Saturday Night Fever
by RebeccaEvansBehr
Summary: AU. ML. One shot. While everyone else in their group gets along just fine, Max Evans and Liz Parker simply seem to hate each other. If they talk at all, it's only to insult each other, or make fun of the other… the question is, is there something else


**Author**: **Rebecca. **

**Title**: **Saturday Night Fever**

**Category**: AU. No aliens. Max and Liz.

**Rating**: **M**

**Disclaimer**: Don't own them, just love them.

**Summary**: _While everyone else in their group gets along just fine, Max Evans and Liz Parker simply seem to hate each other. If they talk at all, it's only to insult each other, or make fun of the other… the question is, is there something else behind their supposed animosity? And if there is, what will they do once they acknowledge that fact?_

* * *

Crap.

Crap.

Crap.

And… more crap.

How could it be so hard to find anything to watch on TV on a Saturday night?

Harder than she would have thought, _obviously_, she realized as she kept changing from one channel to another without finding anything to her satisfaction.

God, she was so bored, even going through Michael's DVDs collection and watching Braveheart for the millionth time seemed tempting at the moment, she mused as she threw a quick look at the mural clock and realized the time.

It was definitely too late to put on a new DVD however, even if it was too soon for her to go to bed just yet.

She should have gone with Michael and Maria after all, even if the thought of going to one more of those parties they both liked so much wasn't more thrilling now than it had been a few hours ago when they had both tried to convince her to come.

Still, at this point, anything looked better than watching reruns or those horrible reality shows so many people seem to be so fond of now these days. Heck, even dealing with a drunk Kyle Valenti hitting on her like a crazed man sounded like more fun.

She had chosen not to go however, deciding that a calm night on her own was just what she needed after being finally done with all her mid-terms and all, but now she was starting to rethink the whole thing.

The worst of it all was that normally she shouldn't even be there, this being the first holidays she hadn't gone home since starting college, but her parents had told her only a few weeks before Spring break that they were leaving to join her grandmother for an 'extended and well deserved vacation' and that she was free to go home to Roswell if she wanted to nonetheless, or stay in Albuquerque.

The choice had nearly been taken away from her when it had been announced that her residence hall would be closed during the whole period of school break due to some work of renovation they intended to get done, but when Michael, who fortunately had his own apartment, had offered her to stay with him for a few weeks if she wanted, she had thought it would always be better than going home and being alone.

Her parents had been happy to know that she would be staying with her cousin of course, as they knew that like always Michael would take good care of their daughter, but she couldn't help but point out to them how bad their timing was, if only to make them feel even just a little guilty for abandoning her to go have fun in Europe instead.

In all honesty she had wanted to go with them, and would have gone, too, if she could, unfortunately they wouldn't be back for a whole month while she only had two weeks of break, and while going even for that short amount of time seemed tempting, she hadn't felt like making the trip back all alone.

Staying with Michael wasn't that bad anyway, considering how close they had always been, closer maybe even than most cousins were, and since Maria, her best friend and as it happened Michael's girlfriend as well was staying with them, too, she had really thought they would all have a blast together.

The first few days had actually been quite fun, with both girls trying to drive him crazy, more than the usual even if that were possible, but by the weekend Liz had realized that Michael and Maria probably needed time on their own as well rather than having her constantly with them, and that had been one of the reasons why she had declined their offer to accompany them, no matter how much they had insisted.

She could always have found something to do with Alex then, but he had already had plans with Isabel, and she hadn't wanted to play gooseberry more with them than she had wanted to with Michael and Maria.

They had all grown up together and really got along fine, well minus 'The one whose name should remain unspoken' and her of course, but sometimes she couldn't deny that it was kind of hard to see everyone coupled up around her.

It was all the harder since she had broken up with her own boyfriend herself not so long ago. Not that she had been in love or anything, it had been way too soon for that as far as she was concerned, but at least then she had had someone to keep her company when the others started to get a little too lovey-dovey around her for her liking.

She was kind of used to being alone however, since she was the youngest in their tight group and she had to see everyone leave for college before her, first Michael followed soon after by Isabel and her evil twin, 'Max'imum asshole -not that she had really given a damn about _his_ leaving of course- then Alex and Maria a year later, but she would lie if she said it hadn't been an awfully long year to her before she could leave as well and join them, too.

There had never been any doubt or any second thoughts about the fact that they would all go and attend the same college, wherever that was, and when Michael, the oldest of the group and first one to leave, decided on UNM to not be too far from home, they had all known that that was where they would all be.

Albuquerque wasn't that bad, even if their parents would have certainly wanted them to go to some more prestigious town or university, but they were glad nonetheless to have them close. A little more than three hours and they could be home if they wanted, whether it was for the holidays or just even the weekend.

If there was someone waiting at home of course, she thought despite herself, a small frown momentarily marring her face again while her fingers still pressed restlessly on the remote control little keys.

You would think that with as many channels as Michael could have she would find something really worth watching but after another fruitless attempt, the only movie she could find that held the minimum of interest was Saturday Night Fever, and though she had already watched it several times, she momentarily stopped on that, if only to distract herself for a little while.

The dances scenes were definitely not that bad, and John Travolta didn't hurt on the eyes either, even if she had to admit that his haircut made her want to laugh more than it made her drool over the guy. Still, at this point she would take her fun wherever she could get it.

She was really starting to get into it in fact, when she heard the front door being opened, alerting her of her best friend and cousin's return, way earlier than they were used to. Well, obviously that party hadn't been so much fun, good thing she hadn't gone after all then.

"Hey, guys… you're back early… I thought you'd…" she started, an eye still on the TV and when the door closed and she turned around, she couldn't prevent the small groan that escaped her lips when she saw that instead of Maria and Michael, it was the last person she had expected to see who had entered. "Oh, it's _you_."

Just what she needed. Not. And here she thought she would be spending a quiet night for once, moreover when she had been convinced he had still been away wherever the hell it was he had gone this time. She should have known better, though. When had that guy ever given her a break in all the years she had _really_ known him, huh? Never. That was when.

Not surprisingly, even if her tone was clearly disgusted, the smile on his face only grew wider and she wondered if Michael would really be pissed if she went and hurt his best friend really badly, like she had so often dreamed she could.

"Parker." he said for all greeting and quite politely in fact, but she could see that she had definitely not been the one he had been looking for by the way he looked around the apartment, obviously in the hope to see if her cousin was around.

"Evans." she replied back, dismissing him almost instantly and turning back to the television, like she had already forgotten he was there.

Of course she was very much aware of his presence in the room. She had always been unfortunately, though she preferred to not dwell too much on why that was. And she also knew that it was no use wishing he would suddenly turn around and go back to whatever he had been doing before it crossed his mind that it would be a good idea to stop at Michael's, a Saturday night, without checking if he would be there first, but one could always hope, right?

"Nice to see you, too." she heard him say in answer and she couldn't help rolling her eyes heavenwards in annoyance.

She didn't know why he even bothered talking to her, after all they both knew how that would end. Just like any other time. In a verbal fight, where they would try to see who would piss off the other one the most, but he had apparently still not learned his lesson.

"Whatever." she grumbled, eyes fixed ahead of her, while she prayed that he would get a clue and understand that he wasn't welcome here and just leave.

"Michael?" he uttered questioningly, ignoring her tone and coming to stand almost directly behind her, which he could tell by the way she almost immediately tensed only served to unnerve her even more than she probably already was to see him there.

"Out… with Maria… at a party…" she couldn't be more curt even if she tried, but like she had already expected it, it didn't stop him from insisting.

"Oh… what are you doing here then? Shouldn't you be with them?… or out with Doug Whatever-His-Name-Is-Not-That-I-Care." not for the first time the way he spoke to her made her grit her teeth, and it was on the tip of her tongue to tell him where he could shove his sarcasm and his questions.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I didn't feel like going out… and I'm not seeing Doug anymore." she answered as patiently as she could instead of telling him what was really on her mind, but she suffered from no illusion that he would leave it at that. She knew him too well for that.

And he of course proved her right not a second later.

"What? Did preppy boy finally open his eyes and saw you for what you really are?" he replied and though she couldn't see his face because he had chosen just that moment to go and stick his head into the fridge in search of whatever the heck it was he could be looking for in there, she clearly heard the smirk in his voice.

"Again, I don't see what it is to you!" once more she chose to answer as calmly as she could, knowing by experience that he was doing it on purpose and only trying to get a rise out of her.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve?" he was moving to her again, cherry coke in hand like he had any right to behave like he was welcome in the place and could take or do whatever he wanted, and this time she clearly saw just how proud of himself he obviously was.

"Hardly!" she replied quite indifferently, but it didn't stop her from openly glaring at him when he came too close.

She wasn't about to let him know the reasons why she wasn't seeing Doug anymore anyway, or even less that it was actually all _his_ fault.

It was definitively not the perfect and loving romance she and Doug had gotten going on, but they had been doing just fine for a few months, until Doug had started questioning the weird 'relationship' she apparently had with Max. If you could call that a relationship of course.

She had been too stunned to answer at first, and then she had thought that he had simply lost his mind when he had insinuated that there had been too much tension between them for it to be nothing.

He had been convinced in fact that there had to be something _more_ behind the cold stares and constant barbs they threw at each other at every turn than what they had both been ready to admit, and therefore had told her that it was not only too weird to be honest, but more than that, that he was sure she was hiding something from him. And since she had more than once heard him say during the short time they had been seeing each other that if there was one thing he couldn't stand it was secrets and lies, that had not been acceptable according to him.

She had tried to make him understand how wrong he was of course, because clearly one would have to be completely insane to think there could be anything between her and Max Evans beside the blatant hatred that had been a constant since they were children, but Doug had just retorted that they should both seriously stop fooling themselves.

At that point Liz hadn't known if she should have him committed right away, or laugh herself silly at the ridiculousness of the statement, but Doug had been adamant that he knew sexual tension and 'passion' when he saw it, and had suggested that they took a step back, while she took the time to really think about her feelings for Max, whatever those were, and that maybe then, _if_ he were wrong, they would try again.

It seemed reasonable enough if you thought about it, only Liz had been so mad at him for insinuating that she could feel _anything_ for Max, that she had blown a gasket and told him that since that was obviously what he was looking for, they were through.

Sexual tension.

Passion.

What the hell did he know about that, huh? Not a thing. He was clearly crazy and blind to have seen anything there.

At least that was what she had kept repeating to herself in the beginning.

She hated Max Evans with every fiber of her being. Had ever since they were kids and he would always pick on her for a reason or another. He would always make fun of her, or call her names even when she wasn't doing anything to provoke him.

She had never understood him and had given up trying a long time ago.

He was the most infuriating, obnoxious and self-centered man she had ever met. And who cared if he was the sexiest and probably most handsome as well. His good looks certainly didn't make up for his horrible personality in her eyes, no matter what others could say or think.

Of course, why would they see past his appearance when he was nothing but charming with them and only reserved his Mr. Hyde personality to her?

She didn't think that she had ever heard anything nice coming out of his mouth when he addressed her, not since she was a little girl and he still seemed to somehow tolerate her at least, so thinking that he could feel anything for her was simply ludicrous.

And it didn't seem to matter that she had noticed in the last few months that he had somewhat calmed down and wasn't as bad with her as he was when they were younger, even if he still clearly had his moments like tonight obviously.

It didn't seem to matter either that after Doug had started putting all those crazy thoughts into her head, she had indeed caught herself staring at him, way too many times for her liking, or that it had made her realize that she was definitely not as immune to him as she would have liked to be. One would have to be completely blind or dead to not find Max Evans gorgeous and she wasn't either of that, but still, as long as she still managed to convince herself that she hated him with a vengeance, she seemed able to reign on that stupid and so not welcome… attraction, or whatever she felt was and that was all that seemed important. That was all that _had_ to matter.

No, the last thing in the world she wanted or needed, was to let herself mull too long over the fact that it was entirely possible she liked him just as much as she could hate him, even if she wasn't at a stage yet were she could admit that, even just to herself, without thinking herself that she was completely crazy and needed to be locked up.

"Now the question is, what are _you_ doing here?" Liz shook her head all of a sudden, refusing to let herself go any further down that road, and returned his question thinking that if anyone was out of place here, it was definitely him.

"I thought I would hang out with Mike… but since he's not here…" Max trailed off as he realized that he should probably have called him immediately upon returning from his basketball camp instead of just dropping by, but what was done was done now, right?

It wasn't as if he really minded his absence that much anyway. At least when he wasn't around he could bug the hell out of his dear cousin without fearing that she would call him to her defense.

"… You're leaving… oh, that's so sad, but I promise to at least wait until you do to completely lose it and shed the first tear!" she finished for him with an exaggerated pout that clearly belied how pleased she actually would be to see him leave at last, and Max couldn't help the grin that crept upon his lips in reaction.

Too bad, but he wasn't about to do anything to please her. Where would be the fun in that?

Truthfully, he hadn't made up his mind until that very second, but if he could piss her off some more, why not? He wasn't one to pass on such opportunity.

"Actually, if you don't mind… I think I'll stay for a while." he smirked and said, and he had no sooner finished his sentence that he was already sinking down on Michael's comfy couch. Not too close to her, but definitely enough to feel her stiffen once more.

"Well, _actually_ I do… but like you care, huh?" if looks could kill, he would already be six feet under given the way she looked at him then, but that didn't stop him from getting even more comfortable in his seat and bringing his feet to the coffee table in front of them.

"You're right, I don't…" he took a huge gulp of his soda and concurred impenitently, knowing that there was no reason to lie to her.

They both knew he didn't give a damn about her or what she could think of him. Or so he liked to make her believe.

"God, don't you have anything better to do than ruining my night?" Liz all but cried out, and while she almost winced herself at her own tone, the cocky bastard didn't seem the least fazed to see her slowly losing her temper.

"Hmm… let me think about it…" he feigned to have to ponder it for a few seconds, and then shrugged and smiled at her again ."Nope, I don't… sorry."

Of course he could easily find out where the party was taking place this time and go and join Maria and Michael, but something told him he wouldn't have so much fun there and would probably miss something if he left right now.

"Yeah, you really seem to be…" Liz scoffed, not believing for a second that his 'sorry' could have been sincere, and then she decided to give just as good as she was getting. "Shouldn't you be out yourself… fucking 'What's-her-name-again-not-that-_you_-ever-cared'?"

Max Evans was well known to be unable to make any type of commitment, at least where girls were concerned, and she knew well what a womanizer he could be, another reason why she hated him so much. Too many times she had heard about his reputation or his supposed conquests, and it made her sick to think that women were practically waiting in line just to see if he was as good as the echo of his sexual prowess made him to be.

"Ouh… do I sense some underlying jealousy in there, Parker?" he questioned teasingly, making Liz groan out loud and wonder why she hadn't seen that one coming. Like he could have answered with anything but his usual boastfulness.

"Yeah, it breaks my heart every time I think of all those blonde tramps hanging all over you… I just don't know how I keep going on without throwing myself at you as well… I must be out of my mind!" she threw back sarcastically, and Max remembered why he actually liked so much to fight with her.

If he tried this with anyone else, they would be out of replies in no time, but he could always count on Liz to find something to counter him. Or at least she always _tried_.

"You're such a comedian, Elizabeth." the way he said the words sounded almost admiring, but Liz chose to ignore it, knowing that he had most likely not meant it that way.

The day Max Evans would pay her a compliment and really mean it, pigs would fly, the cows would come home on their own, aliens would invade the Earth, and it would probably be the end of the world, all wrapped in one.

"And you're such an idiot, but I guess that's life." she retorted with a fake sigh, and then acted like what was airing on TV was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Ouch, be careful, Evans… she's sheathing her claws." he responded, faking a shudder himself, and Liz wondered how well he would take it if she went psycho on him and bashed his pretty face against the coffee table. "Should I be scared?"

"You know what? Why don't you spare us both the torture of having to listen to you, and get the hell out of here already?" she suggested tiredly, and out of spite, turned the volume up another notch. Not that he seemed to care, but still, at least it would drown some the sound of his annoying -though admittedly sexy- voice.

"As I see it, it doesn't look like you have anything better to do than hanging out with me." he told her with a smile, like she should be oh, so grateful for that, or that was actually the best thing that could have ever happened to her.

"I _was_ watching TV and doing just fine until you decided to grace me with your presence." she informed him, even if that was a lie considering how bored she had actually been before his arrival.

Yet given the choice, she would rather die of boredom than having to spend a whole night with him, listening to him talking to himself.

"Saturday Night Fever? Come on, Parker, even you can't be that lame!" he cocked an eyebrow at her and snorted, making Liz blush despite herself.

Okay, it _was_ pretty lame indeed, but it wasn't her fault there wasn't anything better on TV tonight. Her only bad luck had been to have him coming and catching her watching it. But like he wouldn't have found something else to make fun of her if it hadn't been for that anyway.

"I happen to like John Travolta… so what?" she answered with as much conviction as she could muster, even if it didn't seem to change anything for him.

"Well, I happen to like J-Lo, but you didn't see me running to go and see '_Gigli_', did you?" he mocked quite openly, and Liz barely resisted the urge to hit him this time.

God, could anyone be more annoying than this man?

"If you don't like it, you know where the door is… believe me, no one here is going to ask you to stay!" she pointed out and not for the first time over the years, she wondered how it could be possible for Michael to be friend with someone like him.

They were nothing alike, or at least they weren't anymore from what she had witnessed. She still remembered a time when Max had been the sweetest boy she could have met, and yeah, she could admit, at least to herself, that she had been crazy about that boy back then, but then unexpectedly he had done a complete 180° and she hadn't even gotten a glimpse of that boy ever since that day. Not when he was with her at least.

"Why so cruel, Parker?… don't you even care that you're breaking my poor little heart?" he pouted exaggeratedly and brought a hand to his chest, like he were suddenly in pain, but it didn't move Liz in the least. On the contrary.

"I wasn't aware you had one!" she volleyed back, pleased with herself when he looked almost hurt by her response. Or maybe he was just surprised. After all to feel anything, he would indeed need to actually _have_ a heart to begin with.

"And you wonder why you're alone on a Saturday night?" he shot back, and though his statement lacked the heat she had been expecting after her own sentence, she had obviously hit a nerve. For whatever reason that was.

"I'm alone because I choose to be… and you know what they say anyway… better be alone than in bad company!" she responded right away, and for the first time tonight, she really looked at him square in the eye, hoping, maybe foolishly, that he would take the hint. After all, how much clearer could she be?

"Yeah, and watching Saturday Freaks' Fever… come on, say it with me… pa-the-tic…" he said, enunciating the last word slowly, like she was some retard and wouldn't get it if he talked any faster, and she didn't even have time to think about a reply of her own before he was leaning closer to her. "Give me the remote."

She had barely registered his words in fact that he had already taken it from the armrest near her and was changing channels, and she scolded herself for having let herself be momentarily distracted by that familiar cologne he used and that always made him smell so damned good. And to say that she had been doing so good until that second.

She had even managed to ignore the fact that he looked completely drool worthy in his tight jeans and black Scarlet Fields tee-shirt, but one moment of inattention had just ruined it all.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? I was watching that!" she all but yelped when she recovered and that even if she had lost interest in the movie ever since he had appeared. It was hard concentrating when he was 'yapping' near her. And yes, that was the only reason she couldn't concentrate. It had nothing to do with him, or his scent or… whatever.

"Well, you're not anymore!" he announced unrepentantly and kept channel-flicking, hoping to find something that wouldn't make him want to swear that he wouldn't listen to a Bee Gees' song ever again. There was only so much of those high-pitched voices a guy could take before he seriously lost it.

"I was here first!" Liz remarked and almost cringed herself when she noticed just how whiny she had sounded even to her own ears.

"_I was here first_!" Max parroted mockingly, and switched the remote to his other hand when Liz moved to her knees and tried to steal it from him. "How old are you again? Five?"

"I live here right now… you don't!" she reminded him and hit his arm when he kept swatting her hands away. "Give me that remote back!"

"Mike's casa es mi casa… so I guess I have as much right to be here as you do… and choose what I want to watch!" he informed her and even had the nerve to poke his tongue at her as he finished.

And here he was insinuating that _she_ was the child.

She didn't care that he and Michael were such close friends that he could come and go as he pleased, she had a room here right now, she was the one momentarily living with Michael, and that was enough to give her priority in her eyes. Wasn't it?

"Max Evans, speaking another language… and here I thought he barely knew how to spell his own name… wonders will never cease." she gasped as if in awe, and Max nearly laughed at the expression on her face.

Maybe he hadn't been that far off the mark earlier. She could definitely have been an actress.

"You'd be surprised to hear all I can say in Spanish!" he answered back and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, which only made Liz think that she definitively _didn't_ want to hear whatever that could be.

"Oh, my… and he actually knows it's Spanish!" she continued and brought a hand to her forehead, as if learning that was too much emotion at once and she would just pass out if he didn't stop.

"Te follaria ahora mismo si no supiera lo frigida que eres…" he drawled out huskily, and this time there was nothing faked to her gasp or the slight blush that tainted her cheeks when she heard him. (**Translation**: _I'd fuck you right now if I didn't know how frigid you are_.)

Fortunately, she recovered quite quickly or he would have certainly thought it was the idea of him actually going through his 'threat' that was making her flush like a schoolgirl.

And who cared if hearing him say the words had actually shot a jolt of desire through her entire being, the end of his sentence was enough to make her anger cover that unwelcome feeling.

"Why don't you shove that plan… dondé el sol no brilla?… a ver como te siente!" if he could speak Spanish, she could as well, after all they had both had one Maria Deluca to help them with that. Though she had to wonder what could have been going through Maria's mind when she had taught him to say such things. She should have known he would use them at the most inappropriate moments. ( **T.**:_Why don't you shove that plan where the sun don't shine… let's see how that feels_.)

"I'd rather stick it to you… I could even make sure it feels good for you, too… _if_ you're nice enough of course!" he teased playfully and couldn't help but smirk when he saw Liz's nostrils flare in anger.

He didn't need much to rile her up most of the times, but sexual innuendos always seemed to be the quickest way to achieve that goal.

"God, you're so… so… " she stuttered in rage, her arms flaring around her, and Max prudently slid further away on the couch, just in case she would decide to punch him this time.

"Charming… hot… sexy… devastatingly handsome?" he enumerated shamelessly, knowing that if he had never really thought so himself, it didn't hurt to use what he had heard on more than one occasion to irritate her more.

"Infuriating!… you're the most exasperating person I've ever met… god, who the hell do you think you are?" she gritted out and she only got even more angry when she saw him look at her like he didn't have a care in the world.

He even had the nerve to smirk at her once more, but it was when he snapped his teeth at her and didn't even bother answering her that she really lost it.

"Aahhhh!" her frustrated cry startled Max so much in fact that before he could even react, she was already up and moving to leave the room.

"Where are you going, sweetheart?" he called sweetly after her nonetheless, obviously not knowing when to quit, and he couldn't help chuckling softly when he noticed how rigidly she moved. Someone was obviously very pissed right now.

Evans 1- Parker 0.

"Bathroom!" she threw over her shoulder, and as she exited the room, she could have sworn she saw him checking her out. She dismissed the thought almost right away however, sure that she was just imagining it, because clearly Max wouldn't demean himself by looking twice at her. Not when he claimed loud and clear that she wasn't woman enough to him. No, it must have been all in her imagination. Definitely. "And I better see John Travolta shacking his ass again when I'm back, or you'll regret it!"

"What about I shake mine for you, sugar?" she heard as she opened the bathroom door, and for a short second she stopped in her tracks as that particular image invaded her mind.

Oh, no, she was so not going there.

"Yeah, like it could compare!" she snorted as she slammed the door shut, but he heard her all the same and he couldn't help laughing at that, even if that had probably not been what she had been aiming for.

The smile slipped off of his face the second silence engulfed the apartment again however, and he threw his head back against the couch, releasing the breath he had not even been aware he had been holding.

Get a grip, Evans, he scolded himself and wished his body to calm down.

Man, this was really getting out of control. He wasn't only hard when his mind took him to places he would normally never dare go but in his dreams, he was hard when he was fighting with her now as well, and that was absolutely not normal, or even acceptable.

It was all her fault though. He hadn't had so many difficulties before, and then she had to change so much he barely knew how to behave around her anymore.

God, where had all that ass and boobs come from, he pondered for the umpteenth time, wondering how he had managed to not have a heart attack upon entering and seeing her sitting there in nothing but a small sleeveless top -obviously sans bra- and a pair of shorts that left absolutely nothing to the imagination, even when God knew he had a lot. That girl had turned so hot, he was burning up every time she entered a room now, or he did and she was already there.

Saying that he had had the shock of his life when he had seen her for the first time after two years would be an understatement, because clearly nothing had prepared him for the vision she had become in that short time, even if he wouldn't admit to her how completely enthralled by her beauty he had been on sight then.

The last time he had seen her in fact, just before departing for college, Elizabeth Parker had been nothing more to him than Michael's bratty cousin. A flat-chested fifteen years old whose favorite pastime had been to play softball with the boys, even when most of the times they didn't want to have anything to do with her.

She was annoying and would have been easily mistaken for one of the boys as well with her short hair and skinny body, if it hadn't been for the feminine softness of her facial features.

He hadn't had any problem ignoring her then so, or ignoring the fact that despite her boyish looks he still found himself strangely attracted to her, even if he hadn't been quite as successful to stop his heart from beating a tad bit faster every time he saw her and they engaged in their usual banter.

When he had moved to Albuquerque to attend college and his parents had followed not too long after to open their own law practice there, Max had barely thought of her, or at least he had tried not to, and he hadn't even been more bummed than that when he had come back to Roswell with Michael during the following summers and he had been told that she had gone away to Florida to visit another one of their aunts. Or so he had managed to convince himself of. He had lived without Liz Parker in his life and he had managed just fine.

All that changed at the beginning of this school year, however.

Max had of course been warned beforehand by Michael that Liz would come and attend UNM with them, and if he had anticipated her coming, he hadn't expected to see her all grown up all of a sudden, or to find himself desiring her to the point of pain on the spot, a feeling that had only been growing with months.

The more time passed, the more he was itching with the need to be with her, to make her his, even if he had somewhat managed to reign on that need until now. He had even been almost grateful when Liz had started dating Doug, even when at the same time he didn't think it could be possible for him to hate the guy more and had wanted to break his neck on more than an occasion, but at least then he had had an excuse to not try anything.

He didn't know what he could have done anyway, or what he could have told Liz once he realized that what he felt for her was starting to take scary proportions. What was he supposed to say with all that had already been said and done between them? He was her childhood living nightmare and consequently, probably the very last person in the world she would want to be with or just associated with.

She definitely didn't have a high opinion of him either, that much he knew for sure. Hadn't she even insinuated not even a half hour ago that she obviously thought he had no heart? That was quite explicit enough in and of itself, wasn't it?

He wondered however, what she would think then if she knew that lately it had felt to him like his heart was only ever really beating when he was with her or he knew she was close.

Would she even care? Would that make her change her mind about him or change how she viewed him?

He seriously doubted it, and yet despite all that, despite how wrong it would be to cave at last, or knowing that he would only be setting himself up to heartbreak if he did, he wasn't stupid enough to not know that it wouldn't be long before he wouldn't be able to control himself any longer around her. And tonight was only proving him just how right he apparently was.

He didn't know if it was because he knew now that she was single again or what, but he was barely able to resist jumping her as it was, which was why he was rethinking the whole idea to stay, and yet he couldn't bring himself to leave for all that.

Admittedly, he had known that there would be a good chance Liz would be there tonight, with or without Michael, but the more he tried to convince himself that _she_ hadn't been the one he had wanted to see, maybe even more than his best friend, the less he succeeded.

He knew Michael would probably kill him if he tried to make a move on his cousin though, and moreover with the way he had treated her through the years, but at that point, Max didn't seem able to find in him the will to care.

He would go nuts if he didn't have her soon, he was sure of that, and at the same time he didn't know how they would go from there if anything happened between them. For all he knew Liz hated him about as much as he _pretended_ to hate her, so that definitely screamed disaster.

It didn't stop him from wondering how she would feel in his arms, or writhing under him for all that, and not for the first time he prayed for the strength to go through another day without touching her. Without trying to make her his. Without crossing a line he knew they weren't ready for.

Little did he know of course that at the same time, in the confines of the closed bathroom, Liz was sending prayers of her own, even when she knew it would be of no use.

She could be so stupid sometimes, she thought self-depreciatively as she splashed cold water over her flushed face, and when she caught sight of herself in the mirror she could only cringe at her own reflection.

She really didn't know why she always let him get to her that way, moreover when she knew how much he enjoyed seeing her losing her temper. The guy just seemed to live for that, though she still couldn't understand why his mean nature seemed to only come out around her.

Maria had insinuated not so long ago that Max was probably one of those '_If I hate you so much it's actually because I like you too much_' type of guys, but that was just totally ridiculous as far as Liz was concerned.

Maria didn't know what she was saying more than Doug had, because if what she told her was true, then Max didn't just like her, he was freaking in love with her considering how he was with her, and that… well, that was simply impossible.

There was no way it could be, or life was even weirder then she had always thought it was.

She wasn't even his type anyway from what she knew. He was more into blondes apparently if she judged by how many times she had seen him with one, or how many claimed to have gotten him.

Yeah, completely ridiculous. That was what all this was, she concluded once more as she dried her hands and then took in a few heavy breaths to compose herself again.

She wasn't looking forward to going back in there and dealing with Max again, but it wasn't as she had any real choice. She couldn't really stay locked up in here and hope he would eventually grow tired of waiting for her to come back and leave at last. Besides, she would rather face him than having him gloating at her for having managed to scare her into hiding like a fragile little child.

Meanwhile outside, Max couldn't help wondering what was taking her so long, and he was just about to go and knock on the door and investigate when Disco music filled the room again, indicating that he had inadvertently stopped on Liz's movie again.

Despite himself he couldn't help but watch briefly and he even smiled when he saw what Liz's dear John Travolta was wearing. Well, he and about every person around him. Way too cheesy and old-fashioned if you asked him. And he better not even get started on that hairdo.

Couldn't it have been Grease? That one he could have watched. At least that Sandy chick was kind of cute compared to the one Travolta's character was trying to impress here.

No, Saturday Night Fever was definitely not something he was willing to let himself watch for too long. And even less when the familiar voices of the Gibb brothers drifted to his ears again.

_**Oh, girl, I've known you very well, **__**  
**__**I've seen you growing you every day **__**  
**__**I never really looked before, **__**  
**__**But now you take my breath away **_

The lyrics made him groan out loud as he realized just how close to his situation they were. Liz Parker definitely did take his breath away, turned his world upside down, made him lose his mind, no matter for how long he had known her or how much he had tried to deny it until now.

How lame could it be that his own life or feelings could somewhat be compared to a 70's song, huh? Moreover when it came from a movie he all but hated. Could you say pathetic?

He didn't have time to dwell that much on that though, since he heard the bathroom door being opened at last and he was quick to flick channels again.

Liz herself wasn't even surprised to see that he had absolutely not listened to her when she eventually got out of the bathroom a few minutes after having entered it, and before she could understand herself what she was doing or where such anger had come from, she was storming to him and all but throwing herself at him.

"Give me that remote… _now_!" she ordered him, trying her best to reach for the remote he was unfortunately holding too high in the air for her small stature, and when she realized she wouldn't be able to take it from him, she couldn't help hitting him childishly in retaliation.

The fact that he was openly laughing at her, like he didn't even care in the least that he had managed to piss her off once more, didn't help either, and as a last resort she found herself straddling him and yelling again.

"Give me the damned remote, you freaking retard!" she repeated, not even aware of her position, or the fact that she was closer to him at that moment than she had ever been. Too close even probably.

"Careful, Parker… you keep that up and I might think you actually want _me_!" Max couldn't help teasing as she, most likely involuntarily, lined up her body to his in a desperate attempt to reach for the object still in his hand, but it didn't stop him from swallowing thickly the next second when he felt her breasts pressing a little too much for his own comfort into his chest.

At that moment he really wondered if she realized what she was doing to him, if she knew the effect she was having on him and just didn't care, or if she was completely unaware of the fact that having her so close to him was literally driving him crazy.

"Give it to me, Evans… give it to me right now, or I swear…" she left the sentence hanging there, and though Max could see her eyes screaming possible murder if he didn't comply right away, he was too far gone already to take her too seriously.

"If you wanted _it_ that bad, all you had to do was ask, love." he breathed out huskily, his own eyes meeting hers and leaving little doubt about the fact that he was clearly not talking about giving her what she had been really asking for.

Despite herself, shivers ran up Liz's spine at the not so covered proposition, and for a few seconds all she could do was look at him, wondering if it would really be so wrong if she just took him up on the offer, until the feel of his hand drifting up her bare leg and stopping inches from her behind brought her back to her senses again.

What the heck had she been thinking? Giving in to him would be like a complete disaster and she should really not let herself even just consider it, no matter what her traitorous body was screaming at her.

"You're a dick… you know that?!" she spat out and pushed down on him before moving to sit back where she had been a moment ago, and she hoped with all her might that he wouldn't notice how much his touch had actually affected her.

She hated the fact that her insides felt like they had turned to mush all of a sudden or that she was trembling all over just because of his closeness or his words, when she was sure that he had only meant to push her buttons once more anyway.

Why would it be anything else, no matter what she thought she had read in his eyes a few seconds ago, huh? She was delusional, that was what she was! And stupid, oh, so stupid! And god, she needed help. Fast.

"Yeah, I'm all dick… or so I've heard before." Max answered slyly and Liz could do little more but scowl at him and make a gagging sound, clearly disgusted when she saw him cupping himself as he talked, like his words weren't already crude enough all by themselves.

Of course she had no way to know that that had actually been the only way Max had found to readjust himself as discreetly as he could in his suddenly too tight pants, all thanks to the stunt she had just pulled on him, and it was little wonder then if she looked at him like she wished he would just drop dead on the spot and leave her utterly satisfied at last.

"Stupid bastard!" she mumbled under her breath as she kept glaring at him and she cursed him some more just for good measure when he started flicking through channels again.

"Bitch!" Max retorted, glowering back at her, though he was clearly more upset with himself for not being able to control his reactions to her, than he truly was with her.

"Asshole!"

"Frigid little girl!"

"Coming from you, that means shit… Elephant… _m-man_…" they could have kept going at it for a long while without even tiring probably, but Liz found herself trailing off awkwardly when uneven breathing and strange moans suddenly filled the room, and as she looked back to the television, she couldn't help gasping when she saw three people going at it hot and heavy on the screen.

And by people she meant, two guys and a girl, _naked_ as the day they were born, and doing things she never thought she would have to see until that day.

And to think that, as a joke, Maria had once tried to make her watch a porn movie and she had managed to keep her eyes closed during the whole thing to not be scarred for life, and now that idiot just had to go and stop on one of those stupid movies.

"Close your mouth, woman… or you might give a guy some ideas!" she heard coming from next to her and that was when she realized that she had been just sitting there, with her mouth hanging open while her eyes remained riveted on the freaking screen, obviously too dumbfounded to do anything else.

In reality Max's words were nothing more than a growl, but Liz was too embarrassed at having been caught gawking to really notice at that moment.

The truth was that he had probably been as shocked as Liz could have been herself, if not as embarrassed, but it was the sight of her, sitting there, mouth opened in a perfect 'O', that was really driving him out of his mind at the moment and definitely not the big breasted blonde he had caught a glimpse of not a minute ago.

It was the thought of Liz doing to him what 'Blondie' had been doing to one of the guys on screen that was threatening to make him blow a fuse, though he was lucid enough to realize that it would most likely not be a good idea to suggest to Liz she tried it on him.

"Change it back, you disgusting pig!" Liz all but yelled at him and punched his arm when the blonde on TV started screaming her lungs off in pleasure, like she was _really_ enjoying what those two guys were doing to her.

"Why? Isn't that better than Saturday Night Fever?" Max asked tauntingly before he could stop himself, even if he could already predict that she would certainly not agree with him and that his casualness about the whole thing would only upset her more.

"Only you would find cheap porn better than a movie that's practically considered cult to a whole generation!" Liz threw back, sickened that he could say such a thing, and then turned her head to the side so that she wouldn't have to see more of the awful spectacle. It was already bad enough that she had to listen to it because the animal next to her refused to do as she asked.

"Me and about a million other people, darling!" Max snorted, knowing that if you gave any guy to choose between that cheap porn as Liz had called it, and a movie that was older than himself, John Travolta would certainly not win that one. Not by a long shot.

"Change it now, Evans, I won't tell you another time!" Liz growled and hit him with a pillow this time, the material barely missing his face by an inch. Not that it calmed him down apparently, or stopped him from coming back with one of his usual stupid replies.

"Come on, don't say this is not turning you on… I can see you squirming on your seat!" he accused her just for the hell of it and though all Liz had done was to change positions and sit straighter.

"_Shut up_, moron!" she cried out, mortified that he could think she was actually liking the sounds of all those moans and grunts that resonated around them, and that apparently had no effect on him.

Probably because he had already watched hundreds of those movies before, she pondered and couldn't help but grimace at the thought. The pig probably liked it even, that would certainly not surprise her.

"You should watch, Parker… maybe you could learn a thing or two!" he advised then as he saw her looking at anything but him or the television, and he couldn't help smiling when he saw her lips moving and mumbling what he was sure could only be some other insult she was so fond of and always got for him.

"Look at her… I bet no one has ever made you feel that way!" he insisted when she absolutely refused to look at him or answer to him, and Liz barely resisted the urge to tell him that if anyone had ever screamed like that when being with him, certainly it could only be all faked.

"Okay, that's it… I'm out of here!" she announced instead and tried to stand up, but Max stopped her before she even could, and that was when she noticed just how dangerously close to her he had moved while she wasn't looking.

"What, Parker? Can't take a little heat?" he drawled out into her ear as he softly stroked her wrist, the situation starting to have quite an effect on him as well, even if he tried to at least hide it from her.

"Screw you!" Liz spewed out, fuming inside now, yet when she knew she should have been up and getting the hell away from him, she suddenly couldn't move, much to her dismay.

God, what the hell was he doing to her?

"Told you… I'd rather screw _you_, beautiful!" Max whispered out and Liz sucked in a breath when he let go of her arm at last but pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear, the tender gesture in complete opposition with the vulgarity of his words.

"Do those lame pick-up lines work with anyone?… I mean with anyone with some brain?" she questioned acerbically, though she couldn't care less about his answer.

Girls were probably tripping all over themselves every time Maxwell Freaking Evans as much as looked their way or just opened his mouth anyway, and she wasn't willing to listen to him bragging about it.

"You'd be surprised." Max just uttered distractedly, suddenly more enthralled by the sight of her bare neck now than he was focused on her question, his mind taking him to places he shouldn't let it go if he didn't want to lose it for good.

Her skin looked so soft and so tempting, it was nothing short of a miracle if he had not tried yet to have a taste of it.

"I doubt it!" it was Liz's turn to snort this time, knowing that if stupid girls were unfortunately legions in Albuquerque, those with a minimum of sense were definitely fewer, and therefore that Max had most likely never been able to hold a serious or intelligent conversation with any of the girls he had managed to lure into giving him a chance and screwed.

"Maybe I should try some more with you then… after all, you're all brain… aren't you?" Liz knew it could have been a compliment, if it had come from anyone but _him_ of course, and so instead of making her feel better or at least somewhat proud of being praised on her own intelligence, it only infuriated more, which was probably why he had done it to begin with.

"God, why don't you just leave me alone already?… Don't you have anyone else to go see and bug?" she gritted out, truly reaching the end of her patience with him.

It didn't help either that he was so close she could feel his hot breath stirring down her neck every time he spoke or took in a gulp of air, and that it was making her feel all kind of crazy things. God, she really needed him away from her. Miles and miles away.

"You know you like it when I bug _you_… why should I stop then?" Max demanded, though he knew she would rather die first before admitting that she actually appreciated their bickering just as much as he did himself.

"Get the hell out of here, Evans, or my cousin will find a dead body when he gets back!"

Anyone else would have backed off faced to such a threat, but Liz should have known better than to just even think that Max could have been even slightly intimidated by her tone or the possibility of dying that night, whether she was serious or not.

"You know you're hot when you're pissed, Parker?" he said for all answer, thinking that she was certainly one of the only persons he knew of that looked even more beautiful if that were possible when they were truly upset.

"Yeah, that's just me… I just ooze hotness!" Liz deadpanned, thinking that he was poking fun at her once more, but Max surprised her when instead of one of those lame remarks she was used to hearing coming from him, he just looked at her seriously and smiled almost genuinely for once.

"Have you looked at yourself lately?… you could drive any guy nuts!" he told her sincerely, speaking what had been on his mind ever since he had arrived, ever since he had seen her again for the first time a few months ago in fact. "Besides, when have I ever lied to you, huh?" he then added when she kept looking at him like he had grown a second head and she couldn't figure out what to do with him, and he wasn't even aware his hands had grown a mind of their own until he heard her commenting on it.

"What… what are y-you doing?" Liz stuttered when she felt his fingers caressing the inside of her thigh, the soft contact causing goosebumps to break over her skin.

"I want you!" Max just blurted out, having finally grown tired of this game between them and knowing there wouldn't be much more of it he could take.

"Are you on crack? What the hell is wrong with you now?… You… you see a girl naked and that's it… you're losing it?" Liz shrieked and did her best to ward his hand off, only to have Max resist and squeeze her flesh a little harder.

"This has nothing to do with her… it's _you_… Can't help if I find you hot!" Max nuzzled her neck in the most disturbing way and contradicted her when she insinuated that it was the sight of that naked actress that was making him react that way.

Coupled with the fingers she couldn't seem to pry away from her skin, it was enough to drive Liz insane.

"Since _when_?" she sputtered incredulously, wondering if he really thought she would believe him now, when all he had done for years was to find new ways to humiliate her and ridicule her. "Weren't _you_ the one almost always saying 'Here come Guerin and the Parker's _son_', whenever you saw us together?" she couldn't help asking then, remembering how much she had hated it when he made fun of her boyish looks or the fact that she had absolutely no grace whatsoever back then.

"Well, that was me being young and stupid… you can't hold that against me." Max said almost regretfully, but it didn't move Liz at all, if that was what he had been expecting or hoping for.

"_Young_ and stupid, huh?" she repeated like that had been the craziest thing she had ever heard, which wasn't very far from the truth if you thought about it. "I heard you say so not three years ago!" she then reminded him, thinking that at eighteen he could hardly still be considered a kid back then.

"Stupid indeed." Max just mumbled, nibbling at Liz's bare shoulder now, and barely managing to pull away and avoid being hit when she shrugged it to make him go away.

"Yeah, and now you're horny!" she accused him, not believing for a second that it could be anything else that was causing him to react so irrationally or making him come on to her so strongly all of a sudden.

She didn't get it anyway. At least when he insulted her or pick on her for no reason, she knew how to react and how to defend herself, but at that moment she was completely and utterly lost, which could definitely not be a good thing.

"That I am… and it's all because of you, baby!" Max concurred easily, though she had not been expecting the last bit. Not that it changed anything for her, but she would lie if she said he wasn't making her insides quiver the more he talked to her, for whatever reason that was.

"Well, why don't you go and see if any of the little bimbos you keep on the side can help you with that… I'm sure they would be more than willing!" she suggested sarcastically and tried to reach for the remote control once more, if only to spare her ears the trouble of having to listen to more of those disgusting sounds that would obviously not stop any time soon, only to have Max turn off the TV and throw it away a mere second before he took her hand in his instead.

"I could… only problem is… you're the only one I want…" he admitted truthfully, knowing that if he really wanted he could find someone who could be easily convinced to help, but none that would satisfy his present needs. No one but Liz would be able to at this point. He had learned that the hard way. "You're the only one I've wanted for a while, Parker."

His lips grazed her jaw line as he spoke that last sentence, while his fingers traced teasing circles in the center of her palm, and Liz couldn't help closing her eyes reflexively, praying for the strength and the will to not do something she would most likely regret almost immediately after.

God, did he have to sit so close? Did he have to touch her at all? And did he have to kiss her? Even if it was the lightest of kisses?

What was going on here anyway? And why couldn't she find the strength to really push him away like she should, before it was too late?

"Yeah, and I'm supposed to believe that?… it's Saturday night, you're horny, probably haven't gotten any for a while now, and I'm the closest warm body you could find apparently… sorry, not gonna happen, Evans!" she protested almost right away, but even to her own ears, her voice sounded weak, which only made her cringe inwardly.

She shouldn't let him get to her, not if she didn't want to end up hurt and heartbroken, which she was sure was what would happen if she didn't fight him while she still could.

"Come on, Parker… don't make me beg for it… it wouldn't be becoming." Max tried to joke, but he knew well that if it had to come to that, if that was what it took to finally know what it felt like to be with her, he would certainly be ready to do just that.

"I'd like to see you try!" was Liz's next sardonic answer but she cursed herself when she couldn't prevent the soft moan that escaped her lips the next second when she felt Max's tongue toy with the rim of her ear.

"What would be the point, really? You know you want it, too… I can feel it…" Max pointed out to her, like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Liz glared at him before gasping with his next sentence. "I can _smell_ it!"

"What y-you're _smelling_ is your own horniness!" she instantly retorted indignantly, but couldn't stop herself from blushing slightly as she wondered if he could really smell… anything coming from her.

As much as she tried to remain unaffected, she knew she was reacting pretty strongly to him and his closeness, or to the fact that he was still touching her.

God, you couldn't even trust your own body these days.

"Are you sure?" he persisted, his fingers creeping up her thigh again and stopping just millimeters from the hem of her shorts. "Aren't you wet right now, Parker?… Would I not find you soaking if I were to touch you now?"

"D-Don't you dare… god, let go of m-me!" Liz ordered in a trembling whisper, her own fingers closing around his to stop him from going any further and finding out just how right he was.

"You know you don't really want me to stop!" Max breathed out, nibbling his way up to her chin now, and he was barely able to hide a smile when he felt Liz's grip on his fingers tighten even more the closer his lips came to what they both knew was his final destination. "Do you, Parker?"

"I-I thought you hated m-me!" Liz didn't even bother contradicting him this time, knowing that denying it would only be lying, but that didn't mean that she was ready to admit it out loud for all that.

"Maybe I do… but I think I like you even more!" Max whispered with a soft smile that contradicted the fact that he had just admitted he hated her in a way, and for some strange reason Liz felt her heart skipping a beat.

She knew that things were about to change drastically, and she couldn't help wondering if she was really ready for that, no matter how much she knew she actually wanted it. Oh, god if she did want it.

"I-I hate you, too!" she murmured back but with so little conviction it was almost laughable. There was absolutely no way Max would really believe her, not if he paid even just a little bit of attention.

"That's good… at least we agree on something for once!" he turned her face fully to him then and when he smiled at her this time, she knew she was lost.

She felt his thumb trace her bottom lip in the most gentle way first, and the next second, when it was replaced by his own lips, Liz forgot about even the mere thought of breathing.

Despite all her protests, it wouldn't be the first time she had imagined being kissed by Max, but as he did at last and let her get acquainted with the feel of his lips on hers, she discovered that nothing could compare with the real thing.

The first few kisses were actually way more tender than she had been expecting them to be considering what had transpired between them just seconds ago, but Liz was still fighting for breath when Max eventually pulled away and rested his forehead against her own.

"God, you drive me crazy… come here…" he murmured a short moment afterwards when he had managed to calm himself some down, and then moved slightly away from her, settling himself in the middle of the couch to give them more room and inviting her to join him. "Come here, Liz." he pointed to his lap and reiterated when she seemed to hesitate, and if nothing else could maybe have made her cave, the way he breathed out her name then was her undoing.

For years she had been nothing but 'Parker' to him or any stupid moniker he could think of and hearing him calling her by her first name now after so long did things to her she would rather not analyze at the moment.

The whole situation was crazy in fact if you thought about it. Here she was, just having been kissed by Max Evans of all people when not ten minutes ago they had been throwing insults at each other, and now she had to decide if they would stop at that, at a few simple kisses, if you could call it a few _simple_ kisses of course, or take a step she knew they wouldn't be able to take back later.

Part of her was terrified at the thought of what could happen or what that could mean for them, but the other part of her already knew that there would be no way to stop them now that they had started. Nor did she want them to, truthfully. They had gone too far already for that.

After a few seconds so, she tentatively crawled to Max, and she had no sooner reached him that he was pulling her to him and making her straddle his lap.

"Max?…" she whispered his name, the confusion evident in her tone, but she couldn't even express what was on her mind at the moment that his lips were on hers again, silencing her and making her lose her train of thought.

Max didn't want to give her any opportunity to question what was going on between them in fact, knowing that if Liz over thought it, she would certainly conclude that she would be insane to let it go any further than it had already gone, and that was the very last thing he wanted.

Now that he finally knew how incredible it felt to have her in his arms and be able to kiss her, or what was even more to be kissed back by her, he couldn't afford to let her get back to her senses too soon, or he knew it would just ruin everything.

He understood it, too, however. After all, he didn't think he had ever given her any reason to believe he felt anything for her before tonight, and even now she probably still thought it was only just lust that had compelled him to act, but truthfully it couldn't be further from the truth, and he intended to make her see that before the end of the night.

His kisses became more insistent then, and when he couldn't take it anymore, he cupped the back of her head and angled it so he could deepen them, his tongue almost immediately slipping between her lips and mating with hers when she parted them willingly for his entrance.

If she was definitely not the first girl he had ever kissed, Max was sure nonetheless that it had never felt as right as it felt to share the experience with Liz, and he couldn't stop his heart from skipping a few beats when he heard her moan the more passionate their kisses grew.

"M-Max… I… I-I don't understand this…" Liz stuttered when they parted, breathing uneven and mind swirling with so many questions, no matter how hard she tried to stop herself, she was suddenly feeling dizzy.

"You don't have to… just feel…" Max whispered, his lips trailing up her jaw until he stopped a mere inch from her ear. "You feel how much I want you?" he then questioned hoarsely as his hands bracketed her hips and brought her so close to him it was impossible for her to not know how much she indeed affected him.

And no matter how much she wanted to, Liz couldn't contain the gasp that spilled forth from her mouth when her burning core came into contact with the obvious proof of his own need, and she couldn't stop herself from reacting consequently either, Max all but dying from a heart attack when she started grinding against him.

"God, Liz… you're killing me!" he grunted as he tried to slow down her movements after a few minutes of that sweet torture, sure that he would just embarrass himself if he didn't. Yet he had waited for this moment for too long to let his own excitation ruin it.

"I love how you say my name… say it again…" Liz confessed and pleaded before she could stop herself, still not quite used to hearing him say so.

"Liz?" he breathed out and smiled when he felt her nod against his neck, knowing exactly how she felt.

His own pulse had raced some as well when he had heard her calling him by his name instead of Evans, or worse, just 'you idiot'.

"Y-Yeah."

"_Liz_… beautiful _Liz_… sexy _Liz_…" he exhaled almost lovingly then, punctuating each piece of sentence with a kiss here or a nibble there, before cradling her face in his hands and looking her right in the eye. "I want you, _Liz_." he groaned out against her lips as he claimed them once more, and he felt utterly pleased when Liz responded to him right away.

She seemed as eager as he could be himself and Max couldn't help emitting a low growl of his own when her fingers wound through his rather long hair and she sucked hungrily on his bottom lip.

His own hands couldn't stay idle either and they soon found their way under her top, Max immediately marveling at how soft her skin was. Just like he had predicted.

"Max… God, Max…" Liz moaned out herself when his fingers crept up her sides, making her shiver all over the closer they came to her aching breasts.

His touch was nothing but gentle but she felt it all the way down to her toes and she couldn't help but want to make him feel the same way.

"I-I want to see you, M-Max…" she panted out suddenly and was already tugging at his tee-shirt before he could even answer.

Later on she would probably wonder if that had been such a good move, or if she should have been the one to initiate it, but at the moment she could think of nothing she could want more but to see if Max Evans was really as well built as he had always looked to her.

"O-Okay…" he agreed almost right away and helped as best as he could to pull it over his head when she struggled some with it, even if he seemed just as nervous, if not more, as she could be herself.

The next second he saw her looking at him a little too insistently for his liking and he couldn't stop himself from squirming slightly on his seat.

He worked out of course and he knew that he was probably fitter than your average Joe, but that didn't mean that she would like what she was seeing now for all that. He wouldn't have cared that much either, honestly, if it had been anyone but Liz, but for some reason it was important to him that she approved.

The only problem was that at the moment, Liz was unable of speech. She remembered having seen Max half-naked a few years ago when they had all gone swimming to Bottomless Lake, but he had to have spent all his free time at the gym since then if what she saw was any indication, or else she couldn't understand how anyone could look as freaking good as that.

"Nice." she just blurted out eventually as her fingers traced a line from one hard pectoral muscle to his stomach, unable to find anything more eloquent to say than that. The way she looked at him was enough to appease Max's insecurities however.

"Can I see _you_?" he asked softly himself, grimacing slightly despite himself as she kept exploring his skin.

God, if that was already enough to threaten his sanity, he didn't want to imagine what it would feel like if they went further, no matter _how_ far that would actually be.

"Y-Yeah…" Liz answered bashfully at first, yet she was the one to take care of it when Max seemed to hesitate a little too long for her comfort.

She knew if she didn't do it herself then, she would probably lose her nerve and run out of there instead.

She also knew that Max was most likely used to dating and seeing big-breasted women all the time, he hadn't even seemed shocked when that blonde had been displayed on the screen earlier after all, and if she had definitely no reason to complain herself, moreover with how much she had improved in that department in the last couple of years, it didn't mean that she didn't fear, at least a little, what his reaction would be at the sight of her naked for the first time before him.

She shouldn't have needed to worry however, because Max was definitely more than satisfied with what was presented to him at last once Liz had taken her top off. Satisfied and incredibly turned on in fact, though he couldn't help being slightly surprised as well.

"Boobs… god, you've really got boobs… beautiful boobs… p-perfect boobs…" Max wasn't even aware of what he was saying or that he was actually saying it aloud, and Liz didn't know if she should laugh at the completely awed expression he was sporting then, or rather hurry and cover herself and her attributes before he said something that would be way more embarrassing than that. She didn't know until he kept on at least. Then she couldn't help frowning. "Where did my _tomboy_ go?"

"Don't call me that." she groaned as he murmured the last part, and this time she couldn't keep from crossing her arms reflexively before her naked chest.

She didn't like to be reminded of what she looked like before, even when she hadn't actually cared much about her appearance herself at the time.

"Why not?" Max queried gently and lifted her chin when she suddenly lowered her head, like she couldn't bear to look at him.

"I hate it… I-I've always hated it…" she revealed and when Max looked at her like he didn't understand why he hadn't really known about it before that instant with how indifferent she had always seemed to be, she felt compelled to continue and explain herself better. "I-I was completely invisible to you back then… unless you had something mean to say to me of course… and whenever you called me 'tomboy'… it just… it reminded me every time that I wasn't even a girl to you… but just another one of the guys… it just felt like… It felt like you would never let yourself see me like anything but that…" she did her best to not get too emotional, but she couldn't hide how much it had actually hurt, even when she had done all she could to not show him it did for years.

Now it kind of hurt for a different reason, and it was maybe even worse because as much as she didn't want to, Liz couldn't not have doubts about the whole thing and what was happening between them. And if she began having doubts already before they had even really started anything serious, that couldn't be good in any way, could it?

She couldn't t help her thoughts, however. How could she not wonder if he wasn't only 'seeing' her now just because she had unexpectedly grown breasts and curves in all the right places? He hadn't seemed to give her even a second thought when she had had none after all.

The more she let herself think about it in fact, the more she was convinced of that and the more uncomfortable she became, yet Max was about to prove her wrong.

"Believe me, Liz… I noticed you… even when I didn't want to…" he admitted softly, his thumbs caressing her cheekbones while his eyes said so much more than even his words could at the moment, it made Liz fight for air at the intensity she discerned in them. And yet that was still nothing compared to what he did or said next. "I always _saw_ you… You're all I've ever seen, Liz Parker!"

If little green men had come and started dancing around Michael's living room, Liz was sure she wouldn't have been more surprised than she was after Max's declaration, but when she had had some reservations just seconds ago, she couldn't deny just how sincere he looked now, and if that was all she would get at the moment, it would be enough for now.

She would question his words later, when she would be able to think clearly again and when Max's lips wouldn't be torturing her and making her forget even her own name, because clearly, if what he was telling her was right, there was a lot of things she had missed over the years.

She didn't know what she could answer to that at the moment anyway, and she was almost grateful so when it looked like Max wasn't expecting her to apparently. He seemed too busy driving her crazy for that if she judged by the way his lips kept slanting over hers in the most erotic way, proving to her that he was even a better kisser than what her mind had tried to conjure up many, many times before.

"Don't stop, M-Max…" she whispered not so surprisingly so when he momentarily left her mouth to concentrate on her neck now, and then she almost immediately regretted having talked at all when his lips were trailing down her chest but he stopped on his way when he heard her.

"Where should I kiss you, baby?… Here?" he asked huskily and caught her bottom lip between his own like he had been doing before going to explore the rest of her body had become too tempting. "Or here?" he pursued, his hands cupping her breasts ever so gently while he placed a tender kiss just above one nipple, close enough to make Liz want to beg for more, but not really touching yet.

"I don't know… I-I don't know anything anymore…" Liz croaked out herself, caught between the desire to feel his mouth make love to hers again, and the need just as strong to have him go back to where he had apparently been heading and that looked just as enticing. If not more even.

"Is it okay if I do this then?" he questioned a mere second before she felt his tongue circle around her left nipple, sharp desire shooting through her entire being at the short contact.

"Y-Yes…" her voice cracked on the single word but it was enough for Max and he almost right away took the taut nub into his mouth, sucking it softly according to Liz's appreciative whimpers.

He worked on it for interminable seconds before moving to give the other one the same gentle treatment, and Liz couldn't help but blush slightly when she caught sight of the shiny moistness he had left behind.

Her nipples had both hardened to the point of pain now and she really didn't know how much more of such attention she could take before she would explode.

Unconsciously, to relieve the ache his ministrations were creating between her legs, she started rocking against Max's covered hardness, her moves slowly making him lose the last bit of control he had still managed to keep.

It was insane how much effect she could have on him when she was barely doing anything at all herself, and Max already knew that it wouldn't take much more for him to go mad. He didn't think he had ever been as painfully aroused as he was at the moment in fact, and they were still half clothed and barely touching yet.

That wasn't enough however. He needed more. He needed all of her, but he wasn't so sure Liz would be ready to take that step with him now, and as much as he could want her, he would never force her to do anything she didn't want to.

Liz was already getting caught in the passion Max was doing his best to evoke in her when he suddenly stopped, and though he kept nuzzling his nose against her breasts, she could feel he seemed hesitant to go any further.

"Max?" she called his name softly, half expecting him to look up at her and tell her that this was getting out of control and that they were going to make a huge mistake if they kept on, but when he did, she was completely caught off guard by the way he looked at her. "What?" she queried hesitantly when after a few long seconds he still didn't stop, his insistence making her squirm uncomfortably on his lap.

"You're absolutely perfect, you know that?" he breathed out tenderly, Liz trembling despite herself when a single finger traced her face, his eyes following its path and looking at her visibly in awe.

"I'm so not!" Liz blushed profusely and lowered her gaze bashfully, certainly not used to him, or anyone else for that matter, speaking such words. Coming from Max they sounded even more foreign, but she couldn't deny that he looked sincere as he said them.

"You are… you're beautiful, you're incredibly smart… you're funny… you're _feisty_…" he chuckled softly as he saw Liz rolling her eyes the more he spoke, and yet he couldn't stop. "You've got to have the most beautiful and expressive eyes I've ever seen… the softest hair… the softest lips…"

"Max…" Liz groaned against his own lips when he kissed her gently, appreciating what he was saying but not really seeing where he was going with this suddenly. "Why are you telling me all this now, Max?"

"I don't know… I guess…" he shrugged slightly at first, before plucking up the courage to forge forward. "I just want you to know that… that this isn't just about… you know…"

Liz indeed knew what he meant without him having to really say it aloud and she nodded quickly before he could in fact, not really wanting to dwell on that for now.

She had managed to not let her thoughts wander too much so far, and she didn't know what she would say or do if Max suddenly wanted to discuss what had just happened and what that meant.

"Nothing… I mean… we don't have to do anything else… I mean…" he struggled awkwardly with the words but he hoped that she understood that he would definitely understand himself if she told him she wanted to stop right now.

None of them was stupid and they both knew it was now or never that that decision had to be taken, because if they kept kissing, if they kept touching, it wouldn't be long before they couldn't stop anymore.

"I know that." Liz whispered quietly and before she could reconsider it, she was kissing him again, giving Max all the answer he needed at the moment.

Hungrily he kissed her back, his hands roaming her back and making her shiver all over, and they didn't stop until the need for air became too urgent.

Liz gasped for breath when Max released her mouth and then moaned and threw her head back to grant him more access when he attacked her neck with a vengeance. His hands were sliding down to her bottom now, and at the same time he pulled her to him, he trailed his lips down to her breasts again, ready to torture her there again.

Or so that was what Liz thought at first, until he passed them, barely granting them a few timid kisses, and she felt his mouth caress her ribcage instead.

She didn't even protest when he forced her slightly backward so he could explore more southwards, his destination clear to both of them.

"Stand up!" he suggested hoarsely when he realized that as much as he wanted to pursue this this way, their position had to be quite uncomfortable for Liz.

Their eyes met just as he blurted the words out and it was clear to Liz that despite the fact that they sounded like an order, the choice only belonged to her. She could do as he asked and things would move to another level between them, or she could choose not to and that would be the end of it.

The only problem was that as much as it scared Liz to move further, she wanted him too much to really be able to think about stopping now.

Her moves were uncertain and made a little awkward by her nervousness but she relaxed some once she was up and Max immediately started dropping small kisses over the expanse of her bare stomach.

Of their own volition her hands tangled into his soft hair, and she wasn't even aware she had unconsciously been guiding him to where she ached the most until she felt his mouth reaching her mound.

He lingered there a short moment and when he couldn't take it anymore, he slowly slid her shorts and panties down her legs, his eyes all the while fixed on hers just in case she would change her mind after all.

The instant she was free of them and her scent filled his nostrils Max found himself groaning and taking in huge gulps of air, his heart beating wildly in his chest. Her smell was enough to make him lose his head and want to taste every single inch of her.

A second after that thought entered his mind, Liz was straddling his lap again but she couldn't even get comfortable again that he was standing up with her in his arms and turning around so he could lie her down on Michael's couch.

He followed soon after, his body covering hers, his lips finding hers once more and Liz couldn't do much more but surrendering completely to him.

She didn't want him to ever stop what he was doing, and yet when his hand drifted down her body, she wondered if it wouldn't be all too much, if she would only survive the experience.

"I knew you'd be wet." Max groaned out loud as his fingers encountered the moistness that had pooled between her legs, reminding her of what he had insinuated earlier, but where he could have sounded boastful about his accomplishment, he just seemed extremely pleased to know he was definitely affecting her. "So wet."

"M-Max…" Liz moaned out hoarsely, his soft touch being pure torture to her. She didn't just want for him to brush her most intimate part, she wanted him to touch her like no one but her had ever touched her there. "P-Please…"

"Please what?" he questioned quietly, enjoying how needy and eager for more she seemed to be.

"I-I don't know…" Liz stuttered miserably, unable to express what she really wanted, what she needed him to do.

"I can't know either if you don't tell me, baby…" Max told her even when he knew exactly what she wanted. The way she squirmed under his touch and how she seemed to do her best to press harder into his fingers was indication enough.

"Touch me." she pleaded more openly, sure that it wouldn't be long before she just took care of it herself if he didn't. He had her burning up and she didn't know how much more she could take.

"I am touching you, sweetness." Max kept playing dumb, but he applied more pressure to his ministrations nonetheless.

"Touch me… _more_…" Liz clarified and though she wasn't even really aware she had been doing it, she grabbed his hand and all but forced him to do what she had wanted him to, Max growling along with her when he felt his fingers part her nether lips and a single one slipped into her wet heat.

"Oh, god…" they both groaned out together, but then any further words were momentarily muffled as Liz's mouth crashed on Max's once more.

Needing no further invitation, Max returned the kiss just as fervently as he steadily pumped his finger in and out of her, and only after a few minutes Liz was just feeling the first of what she was sure would be many orgasms build when Max suddenly stopped, leaving her highly frustrated.

"What… why did you…" she sputtered when she felt his fingers leave her body, just when she was oh, so close, but he silenced her with a soft kiss, just before he murmured into her ear. "Shh… I wanna taste you!"

The words made her blush to what Liz was sure were the roots of her hair, and even if he had already been heading there earlier and she had somehow already managed to wrap her mind around the idea, it didn't stop her whole body from trembling from head to toes when she imagined him bringing her to completion with his mouth.

She knew firsthand now how talented he could be with it, and she just couldn't wait to have it where she burnt the most.

Fortunately he didn't wait for an answer on her part because she could probably not have given him any at the moment, and he was already sliding down her body before she could say anything, kissing a wet trail on his way, and Liz could only gasp and shiver some more when she felt his hot breath teasing her center.

"Oh, yeah… you're definitely no guy…" Max couldn't help from remarking as he got his first real look of her dripping core and Liz found herself bringing her hands to her face in what could only be mortification.

Of all the things he could have said at that moment, that was certainly the last one she had been expecting him to.

"Oh, go-ood…" her voice broke unexpectedly as Max chose just that moment to lick slowly up her slit, and she instantly forgot about even just the thought of reprimanding him for his comment.

The first taste of her went directly to his head and it was enough for him to know that it would become an addiction he wouldn't ever want to get rid of.

He just couldn't get enough of her and it showed in the way he plunged his tongue past her entrance, gathering her essence and savoring it to the last drop, while Liz couldn't do more than moaning his name over and over as pleasure built up and threatened to overwhelm her.

Relentlessly he worked her up, bringing her to the edge of ecstasy before withdrawing slightly when he sensed she was ready to stumble over, until Liz couldn't take it any longer and she all but forced his face into her center while she all but begged him to finish what he had started and not leave her hanging there. She would just die of frustration if he didn't continue, she was convinced of that.

"Look at me, Liz." Max stopped briefly and ordered her and when she complied, despite the slight embarrassment it caused her to see him settle that way between her parted legs, Liz could only gulp as she noticed the feral look in his eyes, like she was his last meal and he had every intention to devour her at last.

She had barely thought so in fact that he proved her how right she was, and she found herself groaning loudly when Max's tongue swirled around her clit, the direct contact with the small but sensitive nub sending pleasure like she had rarely ever known rippling through her entire system.

A second later he was sucking it gently into his hot mouth, giving it the same thorough attention he had given to her entrance a moment before, and even with the best will in the world, Liz would have been unable to stop what happened next. With a hoarse cry of ecstasy, she arched into his touch and let go at last, her love juices pouring into Max's hungry mouth.

Utterly pleased with himself, he greedily drank from her, lapping at her entrance ravenously even after she had calmed down, and he only stopped when he was sure he had cleaned up most of the traces of her completion.

"You okay?" he whispered tenderly after having made his way up her body, his lips teasing her ear just like they had the rest of her a second earlier while he had been moving up.

Still relishing the aftereffects of the shattering climax he had brought her to, Liz simply nodded but she could have sworn she felt him smile against her skin as she did and then, slowly, he kissed his way up her jaw, taking his sweet time until he reached her supple lips to cherish them with the same passion he had shown until now.

"You taste funny." Liz blurted out as they parted, slightly scrunching up her nose at the foreign taste, and then she blushed warmly as Max chuckled softly at her obvious innocence.

"I taste of you." He breathed out huskily and pressed his mouth against her again, his tongue easily slipping past her lips when she opened up to him without much hesitation despite her earlier comment.

For what seemed like an eternity, they just kissed hungrily, until Max felt Liz's hands working on his belt with the obvious intention to help him get rid of the rest of his clothes and make them even at last, and he forced himself to pull away from her before she could complete her task.

"Maybe… maybe we should… ah… g-go to your room… I wouldn't want Michael to… y-you know…" he stuttered as her fingers brushed against the more than prominent bulge in his pants, the way she sucked on his neck at the same time making it even more difficult for him to just say as much.

Yet they had to move because he had no doubt about how much hell he would have to pay if Michael came home only to find them making love on his couch. It was already bad enough that he was about to cross uncharted territory with his cousin, he would probably kill him if he thought he was ruining his furniture.

"O-Okay…" Liz murmured back, but still couldn't move even when Max slid off of her and settled back by the end of the couch.

She didn't in fact until he held out his hand to her, and then he smiled tenderly at her when after barely a second of hesitation she took it and stood up just after him.

It took them a few more seconds to move in the direction of the bedroom, and it was with her heart beating erratically behind her ribcage that Liz guided him to it, only slightly comforted when he followed her too closely to give him any real opportunity to check her out while she walked. She knew it was ridiculous since he had already seen her naked, had for a while in fact now, but she would have been totally embarrassed nonetheless if their closeness hadn't prevented him from getting an eyeful.

Since she was walking backwards, she didn't even notice when they had reached the bed, but Max was there to stop her from tripping and falling. He gathered her up in his strong arms and brushed her lips briefly, but before she could really get into it again, he turned her around, pressing his aroused body against her while his arms wrapped tightly around her from behind.

Without a word he kneaded a supple breast while nuzzling her neck, making Liz just close her eyes at the exquisite sensation. They didn't need words at this point, both knowing exactly where this was heading and what they wanted.

For interminable minutes Max laved her skin while his hands played a sweet torture on her body, and he only stopped when Liz started to protest for more, turning her to him again at her demand and lowering her onto the bed at last.

He didn't really touch her then however, only hovering above her while kissing her and he had all the trouble in the world to disentangle Liz's arms from around his neck a moment later to stand up again and eventually take off the rest of his clothes.

Liz held on to him like she was afraid he would leave her if she didn't and she even growled disapprovingly when he finally managed to pry her hands away from his hair.

"Max… please…" she pouted in the cutest way, making Max throb even more with desire if that were possible, and he couldn't stop the groan that spilled from his own lips when she propped herself on her elbows to regard him pleadingly and he saw her sitting there, legs slightly spread and opened to him.

"God, you're beautiful!" he growled huskily as his eyes trained on her flawless body and at the same time he got rid of his shoes and socks, trying his hardest to not trip all over himself.

His jeans and boxers came next and Liz found herself gasping aloud when she saw him in all his beautiful nudity at last.

God, he was absolutely perfect. Clearly the most gorgeous specimen of men she had ever been given to see and she couldn't resist the urge to go to him and touch him.

Moving to her knees, she closed the small distance that separated them and she had no sooner reached him that her mouth was seeking his again.

"So are you!" she admitted when they came up for air, her lips leaving a trail of hot moist kisses down his chest, while her hands burned his hips and prevented him from taking even a step away from her.

Yeah, like he had even thought about it.

He couldn't think of anything in fact but the tender feel of her lips on his skin and he surely had no intention of asking her to stop any time soon. Not as long as he could still somehow hold on and not completely lose it.

He just about did however, when Liz looked up at him with wide innocent eyes and after having told him she wanted to touch him, asked him if she could.

He surely didn't need to ask 'where' she wanted to touch him to know what she meant and it took all he had to not yell the loud 'hell yes!' that wanted to pass his lips.

Instead he just gave her a jerky nod and sucked in an audible breath when Liz didn't even give him time to think about it twice that her slender fingers were already wrapping around his hard length.

She didn't know what she had been expecting but it was certainly not such softness, like silk over steel. She had obviously miscalculated his girth as well, because if she had certainly noticed how well endowed he could be, she hadn't thought that she wouldn't even be able to close her fingers completely around him.

From what she could see, he certainly didn't have anything to envy to those porn actors they had seen earlier, even if she hadn't watched long enough to really appreciate the difference. She didn't care about the others anyway, all that really interested her at the moment was the warm pulsing flesh she had in hand.

Her touch was quite hesitant at first but she gained confidence progressively, according to Max's grunts of approval and the way his breathing grew heavier the more she stroked him.

Soon however, just touching him wasn't enough anymore and Max felt her hot breath caressing his sex just a mere second before her mouth closed around its head, his whole body shaking at the sensation.

"Liz…" he croaked out as she sucked on him and stroked his length steadily, his eyes all but rolling to the back of his head the more she put pressure on her motions. "B-Baby…"

The combination of the words and the way he breathed them out only motivated Liz to suck harder and Max knew he had to stop her or there was no way he would hold any longer, even if she was just really getting started. With how aroused he had been all the night, he just needed a little more to blow this completely and make a fool out of himself.

While one of his hands tangled into her long hair, the other one tried to bring her up again, the task made quite difficult by Liz's persistence, and he almost sighed in relief when she eventually let go of him and slid up his body again.

The second she was at his level, he sought out her mouth, his tongue teasing hers the instant it found it, while his hands cradled her hips and pulled her up to him.

Liz instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, and they both groaned into each other's mouths when their warm sexes came into direct contact for the very first time.

"God, this is so going to kill me!" Max grunted out when he felt just how wet she was again against his flesh. He didn't think he had ever felt anything like that before and he could only pray for the strength to last long enough to know what it would feel like to be inside of her at last. The stakes were clearly against him considering how long he had been waiting for this moment, but one could only hope, right?

"Then we'll die together!" Liz half joked, half said seriously, knowing exactly where he was coming from.

She wasn't sure she would get through the next few minutes, and yet she wouldn't stop for anything in the world.

Max chuckled at her words, thinking that as far as he was concerned there was certainly no better way to die than in her arms and while making love to her, but he was quick to lower her to the bed again before his legs couldn't bear him anymore and he sent them both sprawling to the floor.

"Are you… god, are you sure about this, Liz?" he felt the need to ask nonetheless, even if by the way she held onto him, he shouldn't even have questioned her own need.

"Yes… M-Max, please…" Liz answered breathlessly, writhing under his warm body with the hope that he wouldn't make them wait any longer.

"A-Are we covered?' Max demanded then, wondering nonetheless what they would do if she wasn't on the pill, because since he had definitely not been expecting this to happen, he had surely not thought about taking condoms with him when he had left his house. He could only hope then that she had something herself, or that they could find some in Michael's bedroom or bathroom if she didn't or he was indeed going to die.

"C-Covered?" Liz stammered herself, too lost in the sensations already to understand what he was getting at.

"Protection… are you on the pill?… or do we need… _fuck_…y-you know…" he replied a little distractedly as Liz rubbed against him and threatened to make him lose his sanity.

"Oh, uhm… yes… it's… it's _covered_… " she said and then blushed, knowing that before they really started there was at least one little thing about herself she needed him to know. "Just… g-go slow… I mean… I've never… "

"Never?" Max parroted and then couldn't help but smile when Liz shook her head, the thought of him being Liz's only sexual partner turning him on even more than he had been a second ago if that were possible. "Well then, we'll just experience it all together."

His own cheeks colored some as he spoke then, but when he had expected Liz to feel the same relief he had when learning she was a virgin, he was surprised to feel her tense under him. In a matter of seconds the temperature of the room seemed to drop at least ten degrees in fact, and that before Max could even understand what was happening.

"Liz?" he called her name softly, thinking that maybe she had suddenly changed her mind, for whatever reason that could be, but he couldn't help frowning in obvious confusion when it seemed that she couldn't even look at him anymore and apparently wanted to move from under him. "W-What's wrong? Did I say something… I mean…"

"Did you say something?" Liz scoffed incredulously, not believing what was happening or how stupid she could have been to let herself see more in this than what there obviously was. "You know I may look naïve but I'm definitely not… though I must definitely be really dumb… god, I can't believe you!…"

"What?… What's going on?" Max's tone clearly showed how lost he was all of a sudden, Liz's irritation making little to no sense to him, but when she looked at him again at last and he noticed how her eyes had unexpectedly misted over, he knew he had missed something big. "Liz?"

"What's going on?… I'm an idiot that's what's going on…" Liz all but cried out, wishing the tears away and grabbing helplessly at her bedspread to cover herself. "God… is this some kind of prank, huh?… or some bet?… how much are you gonna win, huh? …was it worth it at least?…"

She didn't know how she could have not thought of that before, but clearly how could it be anything else? It just _had_ to be some kind of cruel joke, otherwise she couldn't see what he would gain by telling her now that this would be his first time as well. Unless it was to make fun of her later, it just didn't make any sense to her.

No, it just had to be that because there was simply no way what he was insinuating was true. Yet if it were, she knew she would never be able to go out of this room ever again, or look at him or anyone they knew after today if it got out. She just wouldn't survive the shame this time.

Her accusations stunned Max into silence for all but two seconds, and then his own voice raised slightly. "Wow… wow there… wait a minute… what are you talking about?"

To say he was shocked was an understatement but all became clearer with her next sentence.

"I can picture it so clearly… '_Liz Parker is such a moron I made her think I'd been waiting for her my whole life and the stupid fool believed me_'… yeah, I'm sure all your friends would have a good laugh with that one… but I'm not buying it, okay!… " Liz accused, wishing he would just go away now that he had managed to humiliate her once more and would let her cry alone in misery.

"You think… you think I'm l-lying to you?" this time he couldn't keep the indignation from his tone but when Liz fixed him with a teary '_what do you think_?' stare and he caught sight of the quivering of her chin, he took a few seconds to calm himself down, the last thing he wanted being to let this get out of control.

"Hey, look at me…" he urged her on when she turned her head away from him again. "Parker, look at me!"

His voice was way more gentle when he spoke again, and though Liz complied quite reluctantly, she couldn't stop a few tears from rolling down her cheeks.

The only thing she really wanted at that moment was to get out of there and find a hole to go and cry over her own stupidity, but Max's soft touch and apparent own desperation prevented her from moving at all.

"I'm a lot of things… and I may have done a lot of things to you, too… but I would never… _ever_ do something like that!… and least of all to _you_…" he whispered quietly as his thumbs collected the moistness that marred her cheekbones." And I wouldn't lie to you either!"

"You don't seriously want me to believe you're a virgin, right?" Liz snorted despite herself. With all she had heard about him, there was no way she could believe him.

"Yes, I do!… I am… I mean…" Max insisted, though he knew he would need more than that for her to trust him.

"Max… I was there every time you and Michael came back from one of your guys' trips to… wherever… and you would brag about how hot the chicks were where you had gone… how receptive… and how much you had enjoyed their company…" Liz tried to calm down but reminded him nonetheless, remembering that that had been going on at least once a month since they were seventeen, and therefore Max had to have lost his virginity a long time before today. She might have been young and naïve at the time, but she had certainly not needed a picture to understand what they meant by '_enjoyed their company_'.

"Michael bragged… I _didn't_…" Max emphasized that point, having known that Michael's half truths would some day come back to bite him in the ass.

Yes, they had indeed met a lot of 'hot' and 'willing' girls on their weekend trips around New Mexico, but all they had ever done was to make out a lot and grope some flesh when they could. Michael had just thought they couldn't very well report that to their friends without sounding like idiots, and now he was apparently the one that was going to have to pay for that.

"You didn't deny it!" Liz pointed out, trying to sit up, but Max's gentle but firm pressure on her stomach stopped her from doing so once more.

"I didn't care about it!" he replied honestly, although he regretted now having let Michael embellish their 'adventures'. If it had seemed quite harmless at the time, it could very well ruin things between them now and that was the last thing he wanted.

"You should have!" Liz just said as she tried to push his hands away, but he didn't let her.

"Liz, Michael himself was a virgin until he hooked up with Maria." Max sighed and revealed, even if her cousin would probably kill him if he knew he had told her so. If Maria knew herself, he didn't think she had ever let Liz in that little secret before.

"What does it have to do with you?" Liz retorted, not seeing immediately where he was going with that.

"And when was that?" Max ignored her own question and continued, hoping that she would understand what that meant.

"I don't know… I… three years… ago…" she trailed off as she eventually put all his clues together.

Michael and Maria had started dating just a few months before he left for college and from what she knew they had made love for the first time when he had come back during Christmas break.

If what he was saying was true and her best friend had been Michael's first then, that meant that he had been a little more than nineteen when he had lost his virginity and that was two years after when he had insinuated he had. She had never wanted to know much about her cousin's sex life and that no matter how close they were, but she had more than once, unfortunately, caught snippets of his conversations with his friends and that was the only thing she could have concluded with the information she had gathered. And the same went with Max. If he had indeed never talked about it as openly as Michael had, he had not done anything to contradict him either, therefore her assumptions about him had been identical.

Yet even if all of it was a lie apparently, a lie by omission actually in Max's case, but still a lie as far as she was concerned, it didn't explain the rest.

"Max, I heard all about you and Serena… back in high school…" Liz remarked then, Serena Peters having not exactly been discreet about the nature of their relationship and having done her very best to let everyone know _when_ they had actually become intimate.

Liz was sure that if she just thought about it hard enough, she would even be able to give him the exact day it had happened. So if what Michael had said wasn't true, that at least contradicted Max's saying.

"Nothing really happened… no matter what _she_ said… I swear…" Max told her, knowing full well what had been said about them. What Serena herself had.

She had been older than him and they had gone out a few months in high school, and though they had fooled around some and she had indeed been the first girl to actually touch him quite intimately, it had definitely not gotten as far as everyone had assumed.

Even if he wasn't willing to give all the details to Liz just yet, he had learned later on that Serena had actually bet with some of her friends that she would be the one to make a man of him and that she had just made the whole thing up and pretended they had actually done it when he had told her that he didn't really feel ready for more.

Even now he still remembered how she had laughed right into his face when he had said so and how she had retorted that any guy his age had to be ready and would be dying for such a chance, and that was when he had understood that they were definitely not on the same page. Serena wanted just a fuck and he expected more than that from his first time, even if he was a guy and she obviously didn't seem to understand that.

They had broken up almost right away after that, but no matter how much and how many times he had tried to deny it and had kept repeating that people were just assuming the wrong thing, they had all been more inclined to believe someone with Serena's reputation and status at school than him.

In the end so, he had just let it go, not caring much about what people could think of him or what he could have done, but he had definitely been more careful with whom he went out and what he did with them after that.

That didn't mean it hadn't happened again later, sometimes girls could be even worse than guys when it came to make up things apparently, even if he hadn't thought it could be possible until he had actually heard the lies they could come up with when they didn't get what they wanted, but he had honestly not paid it much heed. As long as he knew what was true and what was not, it had seemed enough to him.

"What about that girl at Erin's party?" Liz asked softly then, really wanting him to put all of her fears to rest. In fact there wasn't anything she wanted more than that at the moment.

"Erin's party?" Max repeated a little confused. As far as he remembered he didn't know any Erin.

"Erin Stuart… Jeff's sister… I saw… e-everyone saw you going up with that Shauna-Something." Liz said and by the tone of her voice Max could clearly see that she obviously hadn't approved and still didn't. She even sounded jealous and he couldn't help being pleased by the thought, even if he knew he probably shouldn't or that it was even less the right moment for that.

"You saw that?" he queried nonetheless, sobering up quickly as he remembered that horrible night a few months ago and what party she was talking about.

That was actually the night Liz had hooked up with Doug Shellow, right under his nose, and in reaction he had gotten drunk out of his skull after seeing them kiss for what he assumed was the first time on the dance floor.

After that he remembered Shauna coming on to him quite strongly, and before he could think too much about it they were kissing and she was leading him up to one of the rooms, but it had definitely not ended like Liz or anyone else could have imagined it had.

"Like I said… everyone saw it." Liz shrugged it off like it was no big deal, but the truth was that her eyes had followed them up all the way until Doug had managed to somehow catch her attention again.

She hadn't wanted to analyze why it had seemed like she couldn't breathe anymore then, and had just attributed it to the oppressing smoky atmosphere of the room at the moment, but she knew now that it had had nothing to do with that. Maybe she had known all along in fact, she just hadn't wanted to see.

"We didn't… do it… if that's what you think…" Max informed her, but when Liz just raised a dubious eyebrow at him, he felt compelled to add. "She actually punched me and left… and I think I passed out."

"What?… why would she do that?" Liz all but cried out, clearly having not heard about that part until then, even when she knew something like that should have spread around the campus faster even than any rumor normally could.

She indeed remembered Max sporting a huge bruise on one cheekbone after Erin's party, but she had just thought that he had tripped or something in his drunken state sometime during the party or right after, and hadn't paid much attention to it after that.

She hadn't even wanted to think about Max at all after that night in fact, since she had assumed he had slept with the first willing slut he had found at the party, and that had not exactly helped her to have a better opinion of him, but now she was really curious to hear what had really happened and why.

"It's a long story… but she wasn't exactly very happy with me… " Max just provided for all explanation, and though Liz felt the urge to beg him to tell her everything nonetheless, the way he looked at her prevented her from doing so as she could clearly see it wasn't something he was willing to share just now.

She couldn't be more right because Max didn't really feel like telling her just yet that the reason Shauna had gone hysterical all of a sudden and had nearly given him a black eye was because he had called Liz's name just when things had started heating up.

That had been as much a wake up call as the angry fist that had kissed his face the moment he had blurted the word. It was that night that, even in the drunken haze he had found himself in, he had realized that he had a serious problem, and that the small brunette that this time was indeed lying under him was slowly working her way into his head and heart.

"So that comment about you being… all d-dick… and having heard it on many occasions didn't mean anything?…" she reminded him and asked, blushing slightly when she had to repeat the particular word she had yet used herself earlier.

When it had been said in the heat of the moment it had seemed alright, but now she couldn't help feeling embarrassed, even if it could sound completely ridiculous.

"Okay… that was just me being a lot more boastful than I should have." Max laughed softly, though Liz could see that his face had reddened slightly as well.

"Not that much." the words spilled from her mouth before she could stop herself and Max could only groan as her gaze slowly drifted to his crotch, his cheeks flaming bright red now as he felt himself instantly harden again under her scorching stare. And to say that he had almost managed to forget about their nudity once Liz had started panicking and they had begun talking seriously. Just one look of her had ruined it all. "Then what about…" Liz started again but a single finger on her lips stopped her from giving more examples of what she thought Max had done and with whom.

"Liz, seriously… I won't lie to you and say that it never almost happened or that I wouldn't have had many opportunities to do it if I had wanted… but the truth is that when it comes to the real thing… I'm just as inexperienced as you are." he whispered to her, hoping that she would see that he had absolutely no reason to lie to her about this and that she would really believe him at last. "I-I've never been inside anyone before… and honestly, I've never wanted to be as much as I want to be inside _you_ right now."

"Max…" Liz moaned out despite herself just at the thought, but Max could still see that she seemed to be a little hesitant about the whole thing.

"Look… m-maybe we shouldn't… I mean… maybe this is too soon…" he blurted out unexpectedly and Liz found herself suddenly panicking again but for a whole different reason. No matter what she could have said or thought, or how scared she could be, she didn't really want them to stop. There was no logic about what was happening in her head or how she could go from one thought to another in a matter of seconds, but there it was. She wanted Max despite everything else. "Not even an hour ago we were ready to strangle each other and now… now…"

"Don't… don't you want me anymore?" Liz whispered softly before Max could give them both more arguments about why they shouldn't be considering this, and she looked so lost all of a sudden that Max had to swallow past the lump on his throat before he could talk again.

"There's nothing… nothing and no one in this world I want more than you at this second, Liz… nothing, baby…" Max firmly yet gently cradled her face in his hands and vowed sincerely before he crushed his lips to hers, his mouth closing on hers in a hungry and demanding kiss. "I need you to trust me, Liz… I… this… _you_ mean more to me than I could even tell you…" he added in a trembling and emotional whisper and if nothing so far had really convinced her, that last sentence did it.

The words were enough to dispel any residual hesitancy she could still have had a few seconds ago and triggered something so primal inside of Liz, something so passionate and fierce she thought she would burn out from the sheer intensity of the feeling, and when he sealed their lips together again, she kissed him back like she felt she would die if they ever stopped. And just like that they seemed to be right back on tracks again, both of them eager to pick up where they had stopped before.

None of them was really aware of how long they kept touching, caressing and kissing fervently, but they were both panting for breath and on the verge of losing any shred of control they still had left when they parted and locked eyes again.

"L-Liz… I want to be with you, Liz… I want that so much… but we don't have to do anything if you're not sure you really want it, too." Max stammered hoarsely, feeling how he pulsed achingly between her legs again, but swearing to himself that he would just pull away and put as much distance between them as she needed and that no matter how hard that would prove to be, if she told him she wasn't ready for more.

He would probably die a slow painful death if she did, but he would never, ever force her to do anything she didn't want to.

"I want you, too!" Liz murmured back after what seemed like an eternity to Max but was really only a few seconds, and he really thought he would lose his mind when she arched against him and he felt himself slip between her folds.

The contact was brief but enough for him to anticipate what would happen next and imagine how it would feel for him to be inside her at last.

"O-Okay…" he stuttered tightly, unable to say much more than that, and unconsciously started to sway gently against her.

"Just…" Liz started when he did, hands sliding down his back to bring him even closer, but Max finished for her before she could.

"… go slow… y-yeah…" he promised, remembering what she had asked of him earlier before things turned awkward, and taking himself in hand he guided himself to her drenched entrance.

They both gasped as he slowly entered her, Max doing his very best to be as gentle as he could, but the way Liz stiffened the more he progressed seemed to prove that that was still not enough.

"Liz?" he gritted through clenched teeth, the sensation of her wet heat surrounding even just a few inches of him being already completely overwhelming.

"Oh, god…" Liz gasped again but the few tears that rolled down her cheeks were evidence enough of the fact that this time it wasn't surprise or mild pleasure she was feeling, but clearly pain.

"I'm hurting you… shit… Liz… I-I should…" Max groaned out, already trying to pull out of her, but Liz immediately stopped him. Him withdrawing seemed as bad as him trying to go further. It hurt just as much as long as he moved at all.

"D-Don't… oh, god…" she cried out again as her fingernails involuntarily sank into his skin. Max didn't feel it however, too preoccupied about her to even notice. "It hurts…" she couldn't help but blurt out as she closed her eyes tightly and wished the pain away.

She had heard that it could hurt the first time, she had even been expecting it, but she had never thought it would feel like he was tearing her apart.

"Baby… let me get out, o-okay…" Max proposed, wincing himself at the sight of her in obvious discomfort and pain, but Liz shook her head stubbornly. "Is this… n-normal… I mean, is it normal it hurts so much?" he questioned then, feeling kind of stupid for even asking, but he honestly didn't know much about a girl's first experience.

"What do I know?… virgin here, remember…" her voice sounded almost angry as she spoke, but when she saw Max frown at it, she immediately regretted it. "Maybe it is… or it's just because you're hung like a freaking horse and I'm more like… more like a m-mouse… and maybe… maybe we're just not… comp-…" she was cut off before she could finish her sentence, Max certainly not wanting to hear her say that they weren't compatible.

"Hey, we are, okay!… it's just… it's just this time, okay." He whispered reassuringly while he stroked her face tenderly and hoped it would be enough to calm her some down.

His lips brushed against hers softly, and when he felt her respond even just timidly at first, he kissed her more insistently, until they were again exchanging urgent kisses and he was slowly trying to move again.

Liz rolled her lips slightly herself to accompany his movements, but though she was still feeling some discomfort, it seemed that it was getting easier for him to sink into her depths.

"Baby… do you want me to stop?" Max queried softly as he reached her barrier and Liz involuntarily tensed again.

"N-No…" it was barely a whisper into his ear, but though Max heard it all the same and could see that she meant it, he still wanted her to know that she still had the choice.

"Liz… I'm not gonna be mad or… or anything if you want to stop… it's okay…" he told her sincerely, but Liz started writhing under him some more and it didn't take more for him to forget about what he was saying.

"Don't stop…" Liz uttered nonetheless just in case he hadn't gotten the message clearly, and when she arched into him again Max found himself doing as she asked, withdrawing slightly before plunging forward again.

He did so a few times, yet every time he reached her barrier again, he just seemed to freeze.

"God… I can't… I-I can't do it…" he grunted out after a few unsuccessful attempts, not willing to hurt her even more than he already had, and he couldn't help gasping when Liz chose to do it herself.

Hands on his behind, she pushed him down and met him half way, sure that if she didn't do this now, it would probably only hurt her more or she would simply chicken out. Apparently the 'going slow' technique wasn't helping much in her case so maybe the 'Band-Aid' one would go better and be more efficient.

It didn't mean of course that she didn't feel like she was being torn in two when Max finally pierced her flesh and tore through the last proof of her innocence, but at least she had gone through the worse. It couldn't hurt more than that, could it?

"Why did you do that?" Max asked her with a hint of scolding in his tone as he caught sight of her welling eyes and imagined how much pain the brusque move had to have caused her.

"Because you wouldn't have done it." Liz replied hoarsely and hid her face into the crook of his neck when he placed little soothing kisses along her collarbone.

It could not seem much, but the tender gesture had the desired effect and Liz soon found herself relaxing in his arms as the pain gradually ebbed away.

"Does it still hurt?" Max demanded a moment later, feeling the strain of staying still above her.

"Just a little." Liz murmured back, a hand winding through his hair to bring his head down to her.

Needing no further invitation, Max kissed her sweetly as he started to roll his hips into hers, but so lightly Liz barely felt him move at all.

"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" he asked in a husky breath soon after and bit on his bottom lip to contain the moan that threatened to escape his lips at the moment. He didn't think that he had ever felt anything as incredible in his life as being sheathed inside of Liz's warm heat.

"Remember earlier? You said you could make it feel good for me…" she whispered with a slight blush as she reminded him of his earlier words. It most likely had only been another way for him to tease her and make her lose her temper but she surely hoped now that he was as talented as he had insinuated he could be. "Can you… c-could you do that… n-now?"

"I can definitely try!" Max replied with a tender smile and brushed a few strands of hair off her beautiful face so he could catch every expression of hers and make sure she was really okay no matter what he did.

Ever so gently he started to pump in and out of her supple body, his eyes fixed on her all the while, and this time they both groaned as the slow friction quickly made them eager for more.

Max steadily drove into her then, being as careful as he could, but after a few minutes at the same rate, Liz couldn't take it anymore and she tried to communicate her need to Max, her hips urging him to pick up pace.

"Liz… I… I'm not… I'm not hurting you anymore, right?" Max grunted out, misunderstanding the way she seemed to squirm under him.

"No… god, no…" Liz purred out, pleasure coursing through her now every time Max sank deep into her and he brushed against the small bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs. "Max… I… harder…"

"Ha-Harder?" he stuttered at first, the husky request catching him slightly by surprise even though it also sent a jolt of desire directly to his groin, but then his face broke into a wide grin as Liz eagerly nodded her head.

"Y-Yeah… please…" she all but begged quite shamelessly now, her back arching as she tried to meet up his thrusts.

"I can do harder…" Max growled, plunging in and out of Liz with more strength he had shown until now, much to both their pleasure.

In and out he kept going for a while, driven by Liz's moans of appreciation and could only pray that he would last long enough to not disappoint her.

"Max…" the way she kept purring his name in bliss over and over was nearly enough to make him lose it, but that was nothing yet compared to what he felt a moment later when with a strength he didn't even know she possessed she rolled them over and found herself straddling his lap.

"What… oh, god… Liz…" the sight of her on top of him just about killed him and his eyes all but rolled to the back of his head when Liz expertly rocked her hips into his once she was settled comfortably enough.

The new position sent Max even deeper than he had been until then and they both cried out as their pleasure was intensified.

Propping himself onto his elbows, Max used what little leverage he could find to match Liz's erotic moves and pierced her flesh over and over while Liz rode him for all she was worth.

Nothing had ever felt so good, or even so natural to her than feeling Max throbbing inside of her, and she wished the sensation would never end.

Max himself was going half out of his mind, his senses simply overwhelmed as Liz kept working them to that release they both needed so much, but nothing could have made him stop for all that at this point. He didn't think he had ever seen her look so beautiful as she did at the moment, her flushed body gyrating on top of him, like she had been made just for that. Just for him.

"God, baby…" Max cried out as he felt her tight walls flutter around him, the sure sign of how close she was to going over the edge, and he thrust even harder into her if that were possible, making Liz whimper herself in return at the exquisite sensation.

She trembled above him, her thighs aching from the exertion, throaty moans spilling from her lips, and she just went wild when Max sat up and his mouth closed around one distended nipple, the added sensation finally given her the last and final little push she had been needing.

With a cry of blind pleasure, she contracted around him while Max kept sucking on her aching breasts, and she could only hope he wouldn't let her go any time soon or she was sure to fall over in reaction.

His lips then covered hers as she kept riding the waves or her orgasm, his tongue just as relentless to delve into her mouth as he was to do so into her core, and he only stopped to let them catch up their breaths and roll them over again.

"You feel so good… god, Liz…" he growled out as he picked up pace almost right away and felt his own orgasm just within reach.

The way he worked his hips expertly then made Liz think even just for a second that he had definitely nothing to envy to John Travolta either. At any other moment she would have probably laughed at the ridiculous thought, but god the guy could definitely move, there was no doubt of that, and if she had meant to make fun of him earlier when he had made that comment about shaking his ass for her, she was certainly regretting it now. If she had known then that he could move like that, she would have certainly taken him up on his offer right away.

Pushing that thought away now as she sensed him near release, she clamped her legs even more tightly around him and coaxed him to let go himself, another yet maybe just milder climax making her shudder herself as the sweet tender words she whispered to him seemed to be the only thing he had needed to finally do so and she felt his warm seed bathing her walls.

Afterwards, she held him lovingly as his body was wreaked with tremors after the intensity of such orgasm, one hand playing where his hair curled at the nape of his neck, while the other one drifted soothingly up and down his spine, and she didn't stop until he was completely relaxed in her embrace and she heard him sigh contentedly.

A few seconds later he lifted his head from where it had been resting against the crook of her neck, and they both blushed quite profusely, as if they were only just realizing what they had done and were suddenly feeling embarrassed because of it.

Of course they both knew they had no reason to, but it didn't seem to stop the sudden awkward silence that fell upon them then, even if fortunately it didn't last very long.

It took them a little while yet to get completely back to their senses, but their hands and lips seemed unable to really leave the other's body, both needing yet some kind of contact, even in the smallest way.

"Let me j-just…" Max breathed out after a while and found himself instantly cringing when he tried to pull out of her.

The last thing he wanted of course was to go anywhere, being inside of Liz being probably the best place in the world he could be, but he knew he couldn't very well stay there indefinitely.

Not only was he starting to tire with the effort to not crush her, but he didn't think that it had to be all that comfortable for Liz either to have him weighing down on her even just a little.

He grimaced some more once he was out, the small groan he emitted then matching Liz's as she felt him leave her heat, but then he did something that surprised her as much as it moved her, the tender gesture making her suck in a breath.

Reaching out to her nightstand, he grabbed for some handkerchiefs and before Liz could stop him or tell him that he didn't need to do that, she felt his touch between her legs again, softer even than it had been until then, as he cleaned away the evidence of her lost innocence.

His eyes remained fixed on hers all the while, like he wanted to make sure at any second that he wasn't making her uncomfortable, and though she wasn't exactly the most at ease at that moment, she didn't want to let him know that. It was definitely the sweetest thing he had ever done for her. The sweetest thing _anyone_ had ever done to her in fact.

"Thanks." She whispered timidly, but giving him a tender kiss in reward nonetheless.

"You're welcome." He breathed himself against her lips and when he was done with her, he took a few seconds to take care of himself as well and deposit the used handkerchiefs in the trashcan near her bed, just before he lay down next to her, making sure he was as close to her as he could even if he didn't say anything for a while.

"That was…" Liz started hesitantly when the silence became too much for her a moment later, but Max cut her off before she could say more.

"Unexpected?" he provided, lacing his fingers with her and kissing them gently.

"Y-Yeah… yeah, it was…" she concurred even if that wasn't exactly what she had meant to say herself.

Incredible, amazing, mind-blowing, was more what she had had in mind, but yes, unexpected could definitely work, too, since she had certainly not thought when waking up this morning that she wouldn't be a virgin anymore come the night, or that Max of all people would be the one to 'deflower' her.

And yet, she wouldn't have wanted it any other way, no matter how much she could have protested in the beginning. Or even despite the fact that she would have thought them completely insane and ready for the loony-bin if anyone had told her this was where she would end today.

"But I don't regret it…" Max said hastily when it seemed like Liz was suddenly elsewhere, having no way to know that she was just thinking about how funny life could be. "Do you?" he couldn't help asking then, not knowing what he would do if she said she did. It would probably break his heart.

"No, Max… no, I don't!" Liz replied as quickly, as she saw what could only be apprehension etched on his face, and then cradled it in her hands and brushed away the few damp bangs that nearly fell into his eyes before she trailed soft kisses along one of his brows, down his cheek, everywhere she could until she reached his lips.

They got a little lost into each other again for a while and when they parted, Max took a long moment to just study her beautiful face. She was indeed perfect, except for one little thing.

One little thing he was responsible for, he reminded himself as his eyes stopped on the small scar just above her left eye, and he traced it with gentle care, like even years later he could still sense how much it had to have hurt and didn't want to inflict more pain on her.

"I don't think I've ever told you how sorry I am for this…" he murmured hoarsely after a moment, his voice cracking slightly on the words.

There was a lot of things he had never told her in fact, and he swore to himself at that instant that if he had the opportunity, he would tell her all she had to know about him.

"Max." Liz just uttered herself, trying to stop him from saying more, but Max didn't let it deter him.

"No, seriously… you know that day… I don't think I've ever been as scared as I felt then when I saw how much you were bleeding." he admitted, remembering even now how that had felt.

Not even Michael threatening to kick his ass for what he had done if he didn't get out of there immediately had scared him that much. He hadn't cared about that then, the only thing he had wanted being to make sure she was alright even if Michael hadn't let him get close enough to her to do so after it.

Max didn't need to give Liz more details about what he was talking about either, for her to know exactly what he was referring to.

Out of all the things that had happened between them, that had actually been the worst of it all and probably what had triggered everything that had been done and said between them thereafter. It was also the first time Max had really lost his temper against her, yelling at her that day that he was more than fed up to always have her following them around like a lost puppy and telling her to go and find friends her age.

She had been shocked and had absolutely not understood his reaction of course since it was the first time she had seen him reacting that way, with her or with anyone else for that matter, and even Michael and Zan, his cousin who had been with her at the time, had asked him what had crawled up his ass and died all of sudden, but it had only made matters worse unfortunately. The next second he had thrown a temper, spewing things that he had been the only one to understand, and tossed away whatever it was he had been holding in hands while telling them to go all to hell, unaware of what consequences such a simple impulsive act would have.

"I never meant to hurt you, Liz… you have to believe that!" he continued earnestly, remorse evident as well in his voice as in his features, speaking words he hadn't been able to tell her until then, even if it still didn't seem enough.

He didn't think he would ever even be able to say just how much he regretted having hurt her at all in fact, voluntarily or not. That had never been his intention of course, even if he had clearly been upset at the moment.

It had been a knee-jerk reaction, something he hadn't been able to control at the moment, but he had absolutely not aimed at her or anything when he had thrown the small stone he had had in hands then away. He hadn't been thinking and even less looking where it landed, he had just needed to take his frustration out on something and before he could even understand himself what he had done, Liz had been bringing her hands to her forehead and crying in pain.

None of them had understood what was going on until Michael had managed to pry her hands off her face, but Max didn't think he had ever felt as sick as he had when he had seen her bleeding and had understood that the stone he had thrown away in his rage had apparently actually bounced on something and touched _her_.

The worst of it all had been to not be able to approach her after it had happened however, Michael and Zan preventing him from doing so and telling him he had already done enough. Michael had just called his parents then since they were in his backyard and told him that he would personally make sure he died an excruciating painful death if anything happened to Liz, and in the end Max had had no choice but to leave when she had been immediately taken to the hospital, following not being even an option at the time. The couple of hours it had taken them to come back had probably been the longest of his life, and he still remembered begging his mother to call the Parkers to see what was going on with her and if she was okay, or how he had cried in relief when he had learned she would be, even if no one to this day knew about that.

Zan and Michael hadn't talked to him for a while after that, not that he could really blame them, but though Michael had forgiven him in the end, that had actually been the only time he and Michael had nearly come to blows in all the years they had been friends. Because of Liz.

Only she, and later Maria of course, could make him react that way and go all protective, which didn't exactly bode well for him when Michael would learn about what he had been doing with his cousin while he wasn't there, but he could only hope that it would not come to that again this time and that he would be able to make him see that this was no game for him and that he really cared about Liz. More than he had ever about any woman.

"I know, Max, and it's okay… it was a long time ago." Liz answered reassuringly and caressed his face soothingly.

With what had just happened between them, it really didn't make any sense to rehash the past. She had come to terms with that a long time ago now anyway, even if she had thought for a while that the small imperfection would bother her all her life or that it would maybe make her look even less attractive to boys. Or at least she had believed so until she had realized that it was ridiculous and didn't change much in fact. It was barely visible to her now after so long and it was definitely not something she gave too much thought to.

"Still, I'm truly sorry…" he insisted nonetheless, even despite her apparent reluctance to talk about it just yet. He knew they would have to though, sooner or later, considering how much all that had happened that day had played in their relationship, but for now he was willing to let it go. "I'm just glad it didn't take anything to your beauty."

"Max!" Liz groaned out once more at his mildly teasing tone, sure that she would just end as red as her bedspread was if he didn't stop saying such things to her.

"God, you're just so cute when you blush." Max whispered to her, chuckling softly when she tried to hide her burning face behind one hand when he talked again.

"Stop it!" she punched him with the other, but laughed the next second when he yelped like a little girl and put some prudent distance between them.

"Okay… I get it… you don't like to be flattered… no need to get all violent!" he said as he rubbed his arm a few seconds, before he settled down again, lying on his side and facing her, and he smiled when she mirrored his position and met his eyes.

For a moment they just stayed there, exchanging not so innocent looks that said so much more than words even could then, until Max couldn't take it anymore, the few minutes she had been away from him being already too much to bear.

"Come here." he breathed out as he moved to his back, his opened arms urging her to come to him, and Liz didn't hesitate a second this time, having just waited for the invitation to plaster herself to his side again.

Willingly she went and immediately laid her head on his hard chest, her own arm circling his waist once she was comfortably settled above his beating heart. She didn't think she ever wanted to move away from where she was then.

She could have easily fallen asleep just there in fact, soothed by the gentle way Max stroked his fingers up and down her bare back, if she hadn't been thinking too much for that.

As much as she didn't want to worry too much about what had happened years ago, there was still one thing she didn't think she could wait any longer to know.

"Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you… " she started cautiously as she drew small patterns on Max's naked hip, and then quickly corrected herself, hoping, considering what had just happened that it was indeed all in the past. "Why d-did you hate me so much?"

The few seconds it took Max to react seemed like an eternity to her, and she couldn't help holding her breath when he rolled her on her side and hovered above her.

Apparently that serious conversation, or at least part of it, he had been wishing to keep for later would have to take place right now, he realized with some apprehension, because if he started by answering that question, he knew that there would be a lot of things that would have to be divulged as well.

"I never really hated you, Liz… never…" Max vowed sincerely, his lips seeking hers briefly in reassurance before he continued. "When it all… started… I was… I don't know… like I said before… I was young and stupid and I guess it was just easier to act like I hated you than admitting that I was attracted to you… moreover when you looked like one of the guys…" he couldn't help adding the last bit and chuckle as he remembered what Liz had said earlier, but for the rest he couldn't be more explicit than that.

"You were attracted to me?" Liz repeated, the way she gawked at him showing just how surprised she could be.

Never in her life could she have just suspected that Max could have felt anything for her beside the apparent hatred and resentment he displayed considering how he had always behaved with her, at least before tonight. If what he was saying now was true then, he had truly done a good job at hiding it.

"Yeah… to the point it was seriously getting ridiculous… I just… I didn't understand it myself back then… and I guess I didn't _want_ to feel that way either…" Max revealed but hoped she wouldn't take it the wrong way since that was a while ago and he clearly would have no problem assuming what he felt now. "Why did _you_ hate me?" he then pursued with a question of his own when she didn't seem to be more upset than that about it.

"Defensive reaction, I guess…" Liz just shrugged and then rolled her eyes, understanding that she would have to say more when Max quirked an eyebrow at her, like that wasn't reason enough as far as he was concerned. "I… okay… don't laugh but… I-I had the hugest crush on you… I mean when I… when I was little…"

Admitting that to him at last wasn't the easiest thing to do, but she knew that she couldn't do otherwise if she wanted them to be really honest with each other. However, as hard as it was, when she saw Max fighting to hold back a grin, she could even less bring herself to regret it.

"You did?" he asked quietly, the way he looked at her as he rested his forehead against hers and pressed his still naked body against hers making her blush even more than she knew she had when her confession had left her lips.

"Ever since the third grade I think it was… that was actually why I insisted so much about doing everything with you guys…" she told him, following Michael and all his older friends around being the only thing she had come up with at the time to be sure she would spend as much time with Max as she could. "You were always nice to me… probably only because I was Michael's little cousin… but I didn't care then… I lived for those days when you'd take the time to teach me whatever it was we'd be playing when Michael couldn't… or wouldn't…" she went on with a fond smile on her lips as she reminisced those days.

Even years afterwards and despite how much he had changed soon after, she still remembered how patient he had been with her, even when she had to make him repeat the rules a hundred times before she would get it right.

"I liked it, too… honestly…" Max replied with a smile of his own as he absentmindedly strummed his fingers over her stomach, helping Liz back then or answering all her questions having definitely not been a burden.

"And then that day… when you said… all those things you said… I guess I just understood I was more an obligation to you than anything else and you had finally grown tired of it… I mean, you were always so weird with me after that…" she paused briefly in her babbling and took in a huge breath before continuing. "You broke my heart that day, Max… and I guess I just reacted consequently ever since then."

She knew that whatever he would answer to that would either mend the pieces of her little girl's broken heart, or break it a little more if that were possible, but never could she have just fathomed what he would say, or how much that would actually change her perspective on things.

"I saw Zan kiss you that day." The words were whispered so low, Liz was almost sure she had not heard him right, but the expression on his face left little doubt about them.

"What?" she sputtered out, her mind trying to piece together what she exactly remembered of that day and how it could explain how he had changed so much, but she momentarily came up with a blank.

"I was just going to your house to see if you'd want to come with us later… don't remember where though… I guess I just needed an excuse to see you as well…" he faltered slightly, thinking that it was probably to the old school playground but not completely sure it was that. It wasn't really important anymore anyway. It had certainly not been any longer once he had seen what he saw. "Anyway… I was just rounding the corner of your street when I saw you two standing in front of the Crashdown… Zan was saying something to you and you were laughing… and I remember thinking '_god, she's just so cute_'… and the next second…" he trailed off again but this time Liz could clearly see it was because he had a hard time saying it aloud. And she knew now what it would be, his more detailed explanation having triggered her memory and made her remember what had only been a fleeting thought in her mind after so many years. "… the next second he was kissing you… and I… I-I left… I don't know… I just…"

"Max… I was… we were… I was what… eleven or twelve at the time… and it was just a peck on the lips… it didn't mean anything…" Liz said hastily when Max stopped mid-sentence himself.

If Zan Evans had been her first kiss, he had definitely not been the one she had wanted back then, no matter how much he and Max could look alike. Besides, she was so young at that moment, it had certainly not been anything exceptional. In fact even if she had thought at the time that she was pretty mature for her age, she had found it gross nonetheless. Not at all what she had been expecting from a first kiss and not something she had been willing to commit to memory.

"I know… but it killed me all the same…" Max shrugged but still groaned despite himself at the memory.

He indeed knew that it hadn't been a passionate or loving kiss, it hadn't lasted long enough for that, and if Zan had been older, Liz _had_ been pretty young when it had happened, but it had still hurt nonetheless, even if he hadn't been able to explain why, even to himself, then.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Liz queried softly and cupped his face in her hands, if only to have him look at her and not past her shoulder like he currently was.

If only he had told her then that he had seen the kiss, or even afterwards, she would have told him right away that it meant nothing to her, and maybe then they wouldn't have gone through all those years of faked hatred.

"What was I supposed to say?… '_hey, cous'… I know I don't know my head from my ass most of the time but I _think_ I like Liz… would you please not step on my toes_'?" he said quite derisively, sure that Zan would have just laughed at him or thought he was crazy if he had said something like that to him. "I didn't know what was going on with me myself, what could I have told Zan… or _you_?… I was fourteen then, and like I said… I don't think I wanted to feel that way about you… I just… I knew it would change everything if you knew…"

Keeping it for himself had seemed the only thing to do so back then. Keeping it to himself and protecting himself in fact.

He should probably have found another way to deal with what he had felt at the time, but all in all he had just reacted like a fourteen years old who had had his heart stomped over and just wanted to hurt back. It had been childish, yes, there was no doubt about that, but in a way perfectly normal as well.

Maybe unconsciously and despite everything, he had just wanted to still be a part of Liz's life and mean more to her that anyone else could, be that special someone one never wanted, or just couldn't ever forget about, and if he had thought he couldn't be the one she loved the most, so sure he had been that Zan would eventually have that place in her life and heart, he had done his very best to become the one she would hate the most, the one she would still maybe somehow feel the more intensely about nonetheless. The barrier between love and hate was really slim after all and what really mattered was how much passion you put behind the feelings. As long as it was there anyway, it seemed to be good enough.

The only problem with that was that once he had started, it had quickly gotten out of control, and if that had been quite alright when they had been kids, before he could even think about stopping, it had already seemed too late to go back. He couldn't just decide one day that it had lasted long enough and go to her to tell her that he certainly liked her more than he could hate her and hope she would just forget about all that had formerly been said and done.

Of course considering what he knew now and the fact that Liz had apparently had a crush on him back then, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if he had been honest and she had known the truth from the start after all, but what would they have done at fourteen and eleven, really? They wouldn't have started dating seriously or anything. And if they had somehow managed to keep their feelings intact throughout the years and had wanted to explore whatever those were later on when they would have been a little older, there was no guarantee it could have worked out for all that.

Maybe this was for the best then. At least both had had time to explore other relationships before considering it again, and maybe now they were mature enough to make it become something that could last.

Max really wanted to make it work actually, and he could only hope then that Liz felt the same way.

"Max…" she breathed out achingly as she noticed that he somehow still seemed upset about the whole thing, even if it wasn't for the reason she thought.

"When you and Zan joined us later… I just lost it, I guess… and you know how it ended…" he said shamefully, knowing full well how badly he had handled his obvious jealousy back then and how that had turned out.

He felt all the more ashamed in fact considering the consequences his lack of control had had on their relationship, and what it had put them both through.

"I really thought you hated me…" Liz admitted gently and though Max could hear that there was no longer any reproach in her tone, it didn't make him feel better.

There was more sadness in her voice than anything else, now that she understood his reasons, or at least part of them, but still Max didn't want her to have to feel even just that.

"I think I hated myself more for not being able to control my reactions…" Max countered instantly, and he hoped that despite what he had told her earlier, she understood that she had never really been the problem. He had been the one to screw up.

"Zan and I were just friends, Max… we've always ever been _just_ friends…" Liz insisted nonetheless, not wanting Max to have any kind of doubt about her relationship with his cousin.

Yes, Zan had asked her out on several occasions while she was a teenager, and they had still kept in contact throughout the years even when he had left for college himself, but nothing had ever happened between them after that all too innocent kiss, that day, years ago. They got along really well, and they were good friends, but that was it. That was all it would ever be.

"I know that… and you know I love him… but I'm kind of glad he didn't stay around… he was the one to start all this after all…" Max confessed but left unsaid the part about the fact that he was convinced nothing would have actually happened between them if Zan had been in Albuquerque as well. Knowing him and his relationship with Liz, Zan would have certainly found a way to convince her to go and party with him, and he wouldn't have found her home tonight. He didn't think he had ever seen much of Liz whenever Zan was close in fact. "Besides, I know he wouldn't have minded being more to you."

Liz looked a little surprised to hear him say so, but Max knew well how true it was.

He and Zan had had a conversation about Liz a few years ago, and if they had both been pretty drunk when it had taken place, he still remembered Zan telling him that he really cared for Liz, more than he probably should, but that it would apparently go nowhere because even if she didn't say so, he could see Liz had obviously someone else in mind.

It hadn't really comforted Max though, and while he had tried to not think too much about it, or even less analyze why he was feeling so weirdly about the whole thing, he didn't think there had ever been a time when he hadn't feared when having news from Zan that he would finally tell him he had succeeded and that he and Liz had eventually gotten together.

"I think he understood that he could never be… _more_… you know… I think he knew… even when I didn't… what you… what you r-really meant to me…" Liz barely whispered the last part, not sure Max was ready to hear as much just yet.

After all, just because they had slept together, it didn't mean that Max wanted to know she had had strong feelings for him when they had been younger, or that despite what had gone on between them later on, nothing much had changed if she were honest, no matter how hard she had tried to deny it, or even managed to lie to herself for so long.

It had been easy in fact to convince herself that she hated Max as much as she had been sure he could himself, she had actually still been sure she did not two hours ago, but now acting as if nothing had changed between them would be impossible.

She knew, and that no matter how Max would react after this conversation, or how he would in the end when he would have taken the time to really analyze what had taken place tonight, she would not be able to hide any longer how strongly she felt about him.

"I'm sorry, Liz…" Max found himself unable to say much more than that, unable to express how knowing how stupid he had been made him feel.

If he could turn back the hands of time, there would be a lot of things he would do differently, but he knew he couldn't.

All he could do now was to make sure there would be no more misunderstandings between them from then on. He had so much to be sorry for already, he didn't want to add more to that long list.

"It's okay, Max… you didn't know… and I never did anything to let you know either… I mean how stupid was what I did, huh?… '_you hate me… well, I hate you, too, then_'… yeah, really clever…" Liz rolled her eyes self depreciatively, at least lucid enough to admit that she had done her part as well, and that she couldn't blame Max for everything that had gone wrong between them.

If she had just been more honest with him or with herself first, maybe they would have overcome their problems a long time ago.

But what was done was done, there was no turning back, and now that that was settled, all they could do was move forward, right?

"Well, I'm just glad we came back to our senses then." Max concluded, not wanting to dwell on the past any longer either. There was no reason to.

"So am I." Liz concurred and kissed him lightly, as if to seal their understanding.

"I really don't hate you… you know?" Max tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ears and couldn't help insisting one last time, speaking before they could get caught into each other again.

He could easily get completely lost in Liz, and when she looked at him and smiled at him like she currently was, Max knew he was powerless to fight what she made him feel.

"I know." she replied gently, already having forgotten about it all.

The only thing she wanted at the moment was to enjoy every second she could spend with Max. Starting right now.

"Liz…" he could only growl when she pulled him closer to her and he ended up settling between her legs, the new position leaving little doubt about what exactly she had in mind.

And the fact that he soon felt her hand drifting between their bodies and stopping only when she encountered the object of her current desire left even less.

"It's always been you, Max… always…" she whispered all too emotionally as she brought him to her opening, but wanting to prove to him, just in case there was still even just an ounce of doubt in his mind, that then or now he had nothing to fear.

"It's always been _you_!" Max breathed out in answer as he captured her mouth and let himself sink into her warm depths, ready to make her his again and let go of the past at last.

---

A little more than an hour later, they lay into each other's arms, their breathing still somewhat uneven, but neither of them thought they had ever felt so contented or so pleased as they did at that moment.

Or at least Liz didn't think she had ever been, until she realized that everything could possibly change again once they would wake up, no matter how close they had been only a few minutes ago.

She knew she was being ridiculous, moreover with all they had told each other earlier, but she couldn't help wondering nonetheless if Max wouldn't change his mind about them after a good night of sleep. What if, with the morning light, he considered that he wasn't ready for more, that it would be better if they left things at that. A night of passion that would have helped them working out their differences, but nothing else. She didn't think she would be able to take it if he did.

"Hey, go to sleep… you can barely keep your eyes open…" Max's voice brought her back to Earth, but if she could hear the teasing in his tone at her obvious effort to fight off sleep, she couldn't bring herself to smile.

Instead she found herself nibbling at the inside of her cheek, and Max couldn't help growing worried as he caught the nervous gesture. He certainly didn't want to hear her say something like, '_hey, it was nice and all, but let's leave it there, okay?_' more than she did herself.

"Liz, what's wrong?" he tugged on her chin to make her look at him, but when she did, his heart about broke as he noticed the obvious anguish she couldn't hide.

This surely didn't look good.

"I'm… I-I'm scared…" Liz blurted out, but so softly Max was sure he wouldn't have heard her if he hadn't been so close to her or so attentive to her every breath.

"Scared? Why?" he questioned just as gently, and immediately brought her closer to him, so close in fact that about every inch of her was molded to every inch of him.

He couldn't not wonder though, if there wasn't something he didn't know. Something that could maybe compromise their relationship before it even started seriously and that thought only was enough to make him break in a sweat.

"I just… I don't… we didn't talk about what… I mean… between us…" she stuttered and though her sentence made barely any sense at all, Max immediately got her meaning. And once he knew what had her scared, he knew they would be alright.

"What's gonna happen between us now?" he rephrased for her as his heart started beating normally again and he found himself almost instantly relaxing again.

"Y-Yeah…" Liz nodded, glad to see that at least she hadn't been the only one thinking about it.

Max didn't seem more preoccupied than that however, and she felt a little better, thinking that that was a good sign. Or at least she hoped it was.

"Sleep, Parker… I'll still be right here tomorrow morning…" he promised with the most dazzling smile and pulled her into a tender kiss, before adding a little more shakily. "And those after… I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, believe me."

And she did believe him. There wasn't any way she could not. Not when he was looking at her with his heart in his eyes. Not when every soft touch, every loving kiss he bestowed upon her then screamed how much he did want to be with her. Not even the fact that he had just called her 'Parker' again could make her doubt that now. On the contrary.

She found it oddly comforting, as much as endearing in fact, to hear him say so now. She liked how much things had changed, hopefully for the better, between them, but at the same time she kind of would have missed _him_, if he were to change completely with her, as weird as that could sound.

Now as for her fears, she knew they would still have to have a long conversation about both their expectations, but they were put to rest for the moment, Max's promise to not leave her side being enough for now.

"O-Okay…" she just uttered and brought her lips to his one more time before settling comfortably on his hard chest, a good rest being something she definitely needed after the night she had just had. "Goodnight, Max."

"Goodnight, beautiful." he whispered back as his arms encircled her of their own volition, and dropped one last kiss on the crown of her head.

Silence engulfed the room soon after, none of them noticing that they had not even bothered to switch off the light, so tired they actually were, and Max was in fact slowly but surely drifting off to sleep when he heard Liz's soft whisper.

"Love you."

The sweet words brought an instant smile to his lips and he unconsciously tightened his grip around her, but when he was ready to tell her just how much he cared for her himself, even if it had taken him an eternity to really realize it, he noticed how Liz's breathing had evened out and he refrained from doing so, knowing that she would probably not even hear him.

He could tell her nonetheless of course, but Max wanted her to be wide awake when he would finally tell her he loved her, too, for the very first time.

And it was with that thought in mind, and the promise he made to himself to let her know as soon as she would wake up that Max joined her in the dream world, the smile she had put there never leaving his face, though.

---

Not even an hour later, when Max and Liz were already out cold, Maria and Michael stumbled into the apartment after a night of wild partying, not drunk, but definitely not completely sober anymore either.

It was taking quite an effort out of both of them to not make too much noise so as to not wake up Liz, considering how late it was, but Maria couldn't help giggling as Michael walked on a shoe and nearly fell, but asked _her_ to be the hell quiet, like she had been the one barely missing to make a fool out of herself.

She would have definitely not been the last one to make fun of him if it had happened and she had seen him flat on his ass, but for the rest he would only have himself to blame if he woke up his cousin.

She was quickly distracted from that thought however, when she heard Michael curse some more and then grumble something about how many times he would have to tell her to pick up her things and not let everything on one's way.

"That's not mine, buddy!" she remarked almost indignantly, as she caught sight of the slipper Michael had nearly tripped on and identified it as belonging to Liz. "And that isn't either!" she anticipated his next comment and told him before he could even protest when she saw him walk on something else not a second later.

"God, do you girls ever listen to me?" he grunted irately, thinking that if it weren't Maria's fault this time, Liz had to be the one responsible for the mess that apparently littered his living room.

He had so known, even beforehand, that it wouldn't be such a good idea to have both girls coming to live with him during their school break, and yet he had been unable to stop himself from offering them to come.

He was weak that way when it came to them, but now they were slowly driving him crazy and he was starting to realize that things would have to change if he wanted to keep his sanity and make it through the few weeks they would be there.

It was already hard enough to have to live with Maria whenever she decided that she couldn't take anymore living in the dorms and she came to turn his apartment upside down, if Liz who was normally about as much an order maniac as he could be himself started to become messy as well, he would soon have to hire a cleaning lady, because there was simply no way he could always be behind their backs and do all on his own.

He was even more upset a few seconds later when he realized that what he had stepped on this time wasn't another shoe like he had first thought, but the remote control, and he about blew a fuse at the thought that he could have smashed it to pieces because of Liz's carelessness.

What the heck had she been doing tonight anyway to have the living room in the state it obviously was? Had she held a party of her own here or what, because he definitely didn't remember having left the room like that when he and Maria had gone out?

Michael was actually thinking that he would have to remind Liz the rules of the house in the morning and make it clear that there would be no way he would be living like that for another week when he noticed that despite the hour the light in her room was still on, and decided that, since there was no time like now, he should as well get it done right away.

Maria saw him move in that direction and she didn't pay him much heed, knowing that he would certainly feel better once he would have yelled some and proven he was the man here, until she caught sight of a tee-shirt on the floor and she was forced to reconsider her decision to not intervene. She picked it up absentmindedly at first, wondering if something had been wrong with Liz tonight nonetheless and if they shouldn't have a girls' night out soon to know what was really going on in her life lately, when a closer look made her gape and momentarily forget that thought, her eyes nearly popping out of her head as she finally understood what had happened here tonight.

No way!

"Michael!…don't…" she yelped suddenly, dropping the Scarlet Fields shirt she knew too well was definitely not Michael's or any of the people currently living there, but though she ran behind him with the intention to stop him before he could enter Liz's room, it was already too late when she reached him.

Michael opened the door, expecting to see Liz reading one of her science books or whatever had her complete attention lately, like he was so used to, but what was waiting for him instead made him stop dead in his tracks.

For what had to be a whole minute, he stood there, mouth agape, sure that his eyes were just deceiving him, because clearly there was no way he was _really_ seeing Max, and Liz, in bed, _together_, and obviously naked, which didn't leave any kind of doubt about how they had ended up there and what they had been doing, but no matter how hard he blinked or how many times he did, that image just wouldn't go away.

"No _fucking_ way… you've got to be kidding me!… that's… he _didn't_…" Michael hissed through clenched teeth when he got his bearings back, and he would have stormed to the sleeping couple and gotten Max the hell out of his cousin's bed to surely rip his head off, if it weren't for Maria stopping him at the last second.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed and tugged at his arm in a desperate attempt to make him move in the other direction. She knew how protective of Liz Michael could be, and Max was a dead man if she didn't find a way to make Michael leave that room. Now. "Get out of here!"

"I'm killing him… that's what I'm gonna do… then I'm gonna mangle him, cut him up, tear him apart and go and bury the million pieces left of him in the desert!" he threatened all too seriously but still Maria would have laughed if she hadn't been sure he wouldn't take it well at the moment. At all.

"Michael, come on… let them be…" she whispered as low as she could as she saw Liz move slightly, the last thing she wanted being to see both she and Max waking up and finding them there.

Now that would really be too awkward, even for her. The only problem was that her thickheaded boyfriend didn't seem to share her view and they would surely get busted soon, if he didn't get a move on fast.

"I'm not letting him be anything to…" Michael started in a furious hiss before he caught sight of Liz and Max drifting to each other even in their sleep and he just about lost it. "Are they… they _freaking_ are… but they're sleeping… for the love of… eww… that's just…"

He actually didn't think he could be more disgusted than he was at the moment when Max started to groan softly in his sleep and he noticed how one of his hands seemed to move under the sheet and be caressing parts of Liz he would rather not think about, but he discovered just how wrong he could be when said sheet slid slightly away from their till now covered bodies, at least where it counted, and one creamy globe was displayed before his startled eyes.

Maria, who hadn't seen as much from her position behind Michael, was completely caught off guard when he stumbled backward and collided with her, the shock of the abrupt contact nearly sending her flying back through the door.

A second later he was out as well and closing the door, and though she didn't think she had ever seen anyone getting out of a room so fast, she didn't understand what had Michael freaking out so much until she saw him covering his face and start spewing like a mad man.

"Oh, holy fucking shit… I saw one of Liz's boobs…" he shrieked out and Maria could only lift an eyebrow at him as if to say '_so what_'?, like she couldn't see what was the big deal with that. _That_ was what was making him lose it? With the way he had just reacted she had almost been convinced he had seen Max entering Liz or something. Now that would have been really gross. "I saw one of my cousin's boobs… my eyes… I'm blind… I'm… I'm scarred for life… oh, jeez… oh, fuck…"

Maria rolled her eyes as he kept babbling about what he had seen, when she was sure he had barely caught a glimpse of some flesh considering that Max had been almost lying on top of Liz at that moment. But leave it to Michael to blow everything out of proportions.

"Oh, come on… like it would be the first boob you'd have ever seen or the first b-…" she said all too casually as she moved and entered the other bedroom, Michael following her even if he wasn't even aware he was doing it.

"Stop, don't say it again!" he interrupted brusquely and started to pace his bedroom floor as soon as he was in, wondering what the hell he was going to do now.

If it were anyone but Max, the guy wouldn't be breathing anymore. But Max, he still was his best friend, so how was he supposed to handle this?

"What?"

"The b-word!" Michael said, not wanting to be reminded of what he had seen.

"Quit being so overdramatic, Michael… you said it first… or should I say, you _saw_ it first…" Maria insisted despite his warning, and Michael cringed once more before covering his ears this time.

"Stop it, dammit… I don't want to hear it!"

"Hey, just be grateful it wasn't your best friend's _balls_ you saw!" she joked and found herself giggling hysterically when she saw him scrunching up his face in obvious disgust.

He was just about to open his mouth to tell her just how _not_ funny that actually was, but he didn't even get the opportunity to do so that loud moans coming from Liz's room made him gape and turn to Maria accusingly.

"See… see what you did… now they're awake!" he cried out, pointing an angry finger at her, as he had to hear Liz voice her pleasure, the sounds leaving no doubts about what she and Max could be doing now.

It made him realize that they had obviously no idea about the fact that he and Maria had gotten back and it took supernatural strength out of him to not bang on the wall and shout to them to stop, right that second. At least then they would know.

"Sweetie, I don't think _I_ was the one to wake them up… if you see what I mean…" Maria threw back with a teasing smile, knowing that it was probably only their own hormones that had woken them up, and certainly not her laughing.

Michael didn't seem to appreciate her humor, however, and with a sigh, she resignedly settled down on the bed, already predicting that he wouldn't stop ranting any time soon and therefore, she should better get as comfortable as she could.

"This is wrong… it's just…" he sputtered as he tugged on his hair and tried to drown out the grunts and sighs still coming from outside.

"Wrong? Why would it be wrong, Michael?" Maria questioned, thinking that if seeing Max and Liz in bed together had certainly not been the best way to learn about their possible relationship, she didn't have any problem with them actually _being_ together. On the contrary. As far as she was concerned, it was about damned time those two opened their eyes, and it would certainly make for more quiet nights if they could get along from now on.

"It's just… it shouldn't be happening… he's my best friend and she… she's my cousin for god's sake… that… that's against nature… there must be a universal rule against… that kind of things… and he… he should have known better, dammit…" Michael offered for all explanation, and Maria found herself rolling her eyes once more.

"I thought there was one about sisters and best friends… I didn't know there was one, too, about cousins and best friends…" she mused out loud and it was evident she had a hard time keeping a straight face, given how ridiculous she thought his reasoning was being.

"I'm telling you it's wrong!" he repeated though he could admit, at least to himself, that he was lacking arguments, beside the fact that it would definitely be too weird to see Max and Liz together.

It wasn't just the fact that he had absolutely not seen it coming, considering how they always behaved around each other, it just didn't make any sense to him, no matter the fact that he could still hear the proof of how '_real_' it had actually become between them.

"It's not, Michael… they love each other!" Maria said patiently, but she could see from Michael's incredulous stare that that had not been something he had been expecting her to reveal.

Gee, how out of it could the guy really be to not know already?

"They… _what_?… what the fuck have you been drinking, woman?… they don't _love_ each other… they can't stand the sight of each other… I mean Max hates her guts… I know he does…" he exclaimed with more conviction than he was really feeling, thinking that maybe Max didn't hate her so much despite what he could have insinuated if he could actually sleep with Liz.

You didn't normally sleep with someone you hated, right? Unless you were just using them of course… and it was that thought that was actually making Michael feel so bad about the whole situation. The thought that Max could only be playing Liz wasn't something he really wanted to contemplate or he knew he would just lose it for good.

As much as he could have been patient with him and have tolerated his weird sense of humor when it came to Liz, that would really be the last straw. The one thing he wouldn't be able to forgive, even to Max.

"Did he tell you so?" Maria questioned defiantly, sure that he wouldn't be able to answer affirmatively to such a question.

She didn't see Max claiming out loud 'I hate Liz', no matter how much he could _pretend_ he did.

"No… yes… no, I mean… he _does_ or else… I mean when have you ever seen him being nice to her?… expect when they were kids… and that was like… centuries ago!" Michael argued, trying to come up with proofs of his affirmation.

Max and Liz had been close at some point but that had been so long ago he had practically forgotten it had even ever happened. Too much had been said and done since then anyway, for that to even count or be worth remembering.

"Exactly!" Maria rejoined cryptically. Or at least it was for Michael.

"Exactly, what?… Maria, you're making even less sense than you normally do!" he pointed out, looking at her like she had lost her mind at last.

She agreed Max had always been mean to Liz and yet she pretended that he loved her? Yeah, that made a lot of sense. Riight.

"Michael, where have you been all those years? Have you ever seen Max react with anyone the way he reacts to Liz?… when have you _ever_ seen him being mean to anyone but _her_?" Maria reasoned right away, hoping to open his eyes to what she had realized herself a long time ago now.

She had known Max Evans for years and that particular trait of his character had only ever come out when around Liz. The guy was a pure sweetie the rest of the time, but he seemed to turn psycho every time her brunette friend was in a room. And the worse was that the same could be said for Liz as well because she seriously became a bitch whenever she had to address Max.

Maria had always known there had to be an explanation to such a drastic change in their personalities, but if she had never really gotten it before, it had become obvious once Liz had come to Albuquerque at the beginning of the school year and she had seen them interact.

She had been witness of the same arguments they had already had younger when they stayed in the same room for too long or with the same group of friends. She had heard the usual spiteful banters they were so fond of over and over, but she had also noticed the more meaningful stares Max threw Liz's way when he thought no one was looking, or the fact that Liz was just as bad, no matter how obvious it was she actually didn't _want_ to look at him.

More than once Maria had seen her shaking her head after having stared at him for too long, like she couldn't believe or comprehend herself that she was actually doing it, but it was like she couldn't help herself, given how many times it had nonetheless happened. Consequently, Maria was more surprised they had actually taken so long to take that step, than she was it had happened at all, like Michael seemed to be.

"And that _is_ because he freaking hates her!… he hates…" Michael reiterated heatedly, before stopping mid-sentence when he realized how loud he was being in the sudden silence.

Either Max and Liz had finished, although that seemed to be a little too quick even for Max, or they had finally realized they weren't alone in the apartment anymore. He didn't know what would be best though, them understanding he knew now, or discovering it later on, but all in all it didn't change much. He hoped they had both enjoyed that one night together because if Max had taken advantage of Liz, he would simply kill him and they wouldn't have any opportunity to reiterate the experience.

"That's because he loves her… and he probably didn't even know how to be any way else with her… I've known it for a while, but he probably only realized it tonight." Maria countered instantly, wishing it would be enough to calm him down.

As much as she understood where all this was coming from, she knew that if Max and Liz were as serious about each other as she suspected they were, Michael would have to get used to it, and the sooner he did that, the better it would be for all of them. So if she could just convince him about what she thought were Max's true feelings, she was sure it would be way easier to make him accept them.

"That's not possible!" Michael still declared nonetheless, before taking the time to really think about it. "Is it?"

He couldn't have been so blind and not realized what had been happening just under his nose all this time, could he?

Granted, he had noticed how strangely Max could look at Liz sometimes, and reciprocally, or how he seemed to almost growl when he saw her with a guy and how he worked twice as hard to make her feel ill-at-ease when she was with a date and she hung out with them, but he had just assumed it was because it was too easy for him to let it pass.

Could it have been love all along? Did Liz even feel the same way?

And if he had had no problem with them hating each other as long as they didn't openly fight when he was with them or didn't put him in the middle, could he accept them as a couple? Could he bear to see them all lovey-dovey if that was what they wanted, when he was so used to seeing them at each other's throat. Wouldn't that be too awkward?

"She could have done worse, Michael… Max _is_ a great guy… no matter how much of an ass he's been to her all those years." Maria whispered almost tenderly, knowing that what she was saying was true.

She loved Max like a brother, and she knew he would be perfect for Liz, even if some would have thought her crazy if she had said as much months ago when she had started noticing their chemistry.

"This is too weird!" Michael grunted some more, but he was slowly starting to realize that maybe Maria had really been able to see what he had refused to.

"It's not, Michael…'" she murmured gently, knowing how hard it would be for him to see Liz in a serious relationship, if that was what happened here, no matter the fact that the guy she would be with would actually be someone he truly appreciated this time. "And look at it this way… at least if he screws up, you can always have a nice long talk with him… you won't even have to kick his ass!" she joked then, remembering how many of the guys who had dared hurt Liz, voluntarily or not, had ended up with a few bruises or teeth missing once Michael had gotten his hands on them and been done with them.

Liz didn't know about most of it of course, or she would have most likely already blown a gasket by now, but Michael had always done his best to protect her and make sure guys would think about it twice before trying any of their funny business with his cousin.

"I like kicking their asses." he sighed at last and nearly pouted as he said the words, but it made Maria smile as she understood that that would be it for now.

If she knew him at all, he would threaten Max and scare the hell out of him the next time he would see him, but she was sure that it would go well in the end. As long as Max was sincere and honest with Liz everything would be alright. There was simply no way Michael could really hurt his best friend, even if he had threatened his life more than once in the last minutes.

"I should have known you would say that." she chuckled softly and then extended her hand to him before lying back on the bed, thinking that she wouldn't mind getting some loving herself now that the crisis seemed to be over. "Forget about it for now, Michael… I've got something better for you… if you bring your _balls_ here, stud, I'll let you play with my _boobs_."

The suggestion would have stunned Michael if he hadn't been so used to his girlfriend's boldness by now, but though he clearly wasn't, it didn't stop him from hesitating nonetheless.

"Now?… Max and Liz are just a room away!" he reminded her, like she could have forgotten, but he was already moving to join her before he could even think about it too much.

"Payback is a bitch, Michael… let's give them some reason to have nightmares, too!" she whispered mischievously as she already worked on getting rid of his shirt, and she couldn't help moaning exaggeratedly when he just growled and bit on her neck for all answer.

That was all she needed to know that for the time being she would be able to stop him from worrying about the situation. There was no reason for him to get all worked up now anyway, and moreover when they could be doing something so much more productive.

Tomorrow morning they would have all the time they needed to think about the new changes in their lives and in their relationships.

Tomorrow Michael would have a long talk with Max, and knowing him he would most likely try to impose some ground rules on him and Liz, after having given them the third degree first of course, like the big brother he sometimes considered himself to be to both of them.

No one said it would be easy, far from it, moreover with how upset Michael had been when stumbling upon them without having been prepared to seeing them linked to each other in any other way than through him, but Maria was sure that no matter how hard Michael could be with them, it would certainly not be enough to make them regret having finally surrendered to their feelings and the fever that had been consuming them for a while now for all that. Nothing could if they had really been waiting for that for most of their lives like she suspected.

And that was the only thing that really mattered in the end… Wasn't it?

**THE END**


End file.
